The Final Fight
by Steve'sGirl0829
Summary: Sequel to "My Boy"; Hydra is back. Fury sends Natasha and Bruce on an undercover mission as a married couple to take care of them before they turn into an unattainable fire. One minor detail though... they're going to be a married couple WITH a child. And Steve is going to be their child, again. Bruce/ Natasha
1. Chapter 1

**To make things a little more interesting, I've come up with a way to get you guys involved with this story. Since "My Boy" was a very well liked story, I want the readers involved more and I want to hear your ideas and opinions as this story progresses. (: ****And a way to do that is to allow me to know what you guys are thinking and how you interrupt this story with each uploading chapter. **

**So now, whenever you want to review on a chapter, I want you to answer 3 main questions in your review. It doesn't have to be in the beginning, or the middle or the end. Just make sure it's in there so I know what you're thinking.**

**1\. What were likes/ dislikes about this chapter? (Be honest, I want to know what you didn't like about the chapter. Don't spare my feelings, I genuinely want to know.)**

**2\. On a scale of 1- 10, how would you rate this chapter? (1 being the lowest, 10 being the highest)**

**And lastly, 3. If you could rewrite this chapter, only this chapter, what would you change? (If you'd like, you're more than welcome to use question three as a way for me to know how you'd rewrite this ENTIRE story. But you only want to do the one chapter, that's fine as well.)**

**Well those are your three questions. If you choose you'd rather not do them, and only just review what you want to say that's okay. This is for people who want me to know what they're thinking. Now that we've got that out of the way, let's get to the real reason you clicked on this title.**

**ON WITH THE STORY! (:**

* * *

They were assembled.

Natasha and Steve walk into the briefing, slightly later than usual. The sight of Steve in his Captain America uniform makes the other five in the room visibly relax. Bruce waves the two over to the empty seats beside him. Fortunately, the director of SHIELD wasn't paying attention to any of the occupants in the room, only the screen in front of him. He uses his index finger to scroll through the files on the screen and it's only when Steve and Natasha take their seat that he looks up. First his attention lingers on the three sitting across from him, but then he looks around at the others.

Finally acknowledging the others in the room, Fury nods at them. "I've called you all here today to discuss a serious matter. It's not serious now, but if we allow this to continue any further it will become serious. So I'm going to be frank here," Fury says scrolling his index finger upwards and having the files on the screen appear on the walls around the room. The Avengers begin to quietly read through the information in front of them while also listening as the director continues. Fury stands from his seat and goes to the image of the right side of him. One displaying some sort of weapon or machinery that didn't make any sense to anyone, except Tony and Bruce. They could only identify what the parts of the machine looked like, but had no idea of what that machine was capable of. "Hydra is back."

The director paused a moment, his eyes flickering to Steve's before he continued without giving the Avengers any time to process what he had said. "Yes, we understood that this day would come and we are prepared to handle such events that may occur. But, right now, I don't want any events to occur period. And neither does the council. We want things handled reasonably and cleanly. So that's what we're doing." Fury stops talking and clasp his hands behind his back waiting patiently, which is surprising to say the least, for his team to gather their composure again.

It only takes a moment before Tony and Clint, of course, get their thoughts gathered first. "So what are you saying?" Tony asks serious, leaning forward on his elbows.

"I'm saying that before Hydra grows and carries through with their plan of whatever they plan to take over next," Fury says mockingly, rolling his eyes, "we're going to stop them. We're not going to fight or battle against them, but we're going to do it the old fashion way. Captain I am sure you're familiar with that."

Clint furrows his eyebrow and clears his throat, "So you're saying that we're going to win this fight without actually fighting."

"Precisely. Instead of actually fighting, I'm sending you on an undercover mission."

"All of us?" Clint questions. "With all due respect sir, most of us are not equipped to deal with that area of expertise." Clint begins to cough, Tony's and Thor's name coming out between them.

Stark glares at Clint before promptly ignoring him and turning his attention back to Fury. "By you sending us on an undercover mission, you mean you're sending…" He trails of purposely for Fury to fill in the blanks.

Fury rolls his eyes, "You can guarantee Stark that you're not one of them. I need you here in the research department."

Stark whistles and nods his head, "Good because I don't do missions. That's more Katniss, Spangles and Little Red's type."

"Anyway, moving on," Fury says clearly fed up with Stark. "As I was saying, Stark when we brought down Hydra to get back Darcy we had collected a few artifacts. Some maps of possible locations, weapons that they've been working on to perfect in order to use against us and of course, anything we could get our hands on from their computer. I know what you're thinking, we've already looked at all this useless crap, and so that lead us to just throw everything away, including the flash drive that we never fully scooped through. Well when Hydra came back on our radar, let's just say… I had some agents go dig through the trash to retrieve this." Fury holds up a blue flash drive.

Natasha's eyes catch a hold of the drive and a flashback suddenly pops into her mind. Her eyes glaze over and the memory flash before her eyes…

_She sits there for a minute, her mind wandering, until her hand subconsciously goes to the suit she's still wearing. After Bruce bandages her up, she slips off the suit and retrieves the notes and paper. Walking away, she walks straight up to Stark and dumps them in his lap. "That's all I found and I might destroyed a few computers and machinery while there." Natasha says pulling out her flash drive. "Oh and this." She tosses it to him and he catches it easily, flipping it around his fingers._

_He nods and grabs the paper, secure the hard drive in his hands. "JARVIS?" he asks._

"_Scanning information sir." She hears from inside the suit._

Tony seems to remember that flash drive too because the minute Natasha looks his way, he meets her eye. He gives her a slight nod than turns his attention back to Fury. "Stark, you were the one that first scan through this. What did you find?"

"Some old notes and rubbish. Nothing useful or at least nothing that JARVIS could find." Tony replies.

Fury smirks, "Did JARVIS happen to know that this drive had a code. A code used by Hydra to where they kept their most private and secret information. Information that they can't afford to drop into the wrong hands. Well at least in their mind."

"What did you find?" Steve asks leaning forward.

"Everything we'll need to take them down this time. And I'll need you, Romanoff and Banner to handle this while Barton, Thor and Stark stay with me working here."

Bruce's eyes shoot open, "So you're sending me on an undercover operation?" Fury nods. "Me? The one that can turn into a green rage monster? The one that is experienced in science and not spy work."

Fury nods "Don't worry Dr. Banner. You'll be fine especially when you have Romanoff and Rogers with you who are trained spies. I trust you three more and plus you'll be able to pull off 'the married couple with a child barely moving into a new neighborhood' part extremely well."

The room becomes silent and that would have been a perfect moment for a real surprise spit take. The spit take certainly would've brought everyone out of their trance and back into reality, but fortunately for Fury none of the Avengers brought anything to drink. That meant no clean up for him, more specifically his agents.

Fury counts the minutes down, tapping his fingers impatiently on the wooden conference table. After a full 5 minutes, Fury removes his gaze from the table to the others around him. Natasha's jaw had dropped, Bruce had paled and Steve's cheek had turned red.

Steve wasn't as shocked as the others, but this un-expecting news had definitely taken him back a bit. He was expecting Fury sending Natasha and Clint, but hearing that he was going on a mission with Natasha and Bruce was shocking to say the least. Also that he would be a part of a married couple with a kid. But what part would he, Natasha and Bruce play? That's what was confusing him.

A minute later, his, Natasha's and Bruce's eyes widen in realization. All three heads snap towards him simultaneously and they can't help, but gape at him.

Natasha raises an eyebrow, "Sir… are you saying that… that…"

"Sir, "Steve starts curiously, not liking the glint in Fury's eyes. "Are you-"

"Yes I am. Welcome to the 'neighborhood' Mr. and Mrs. Gordon and congratulations are in order on your two year old son, Aiden Gordon."

Let's just say it was very amusing for Fury to stand and walk straight out of that room without bursting into laughter at the look on his team's face. Boy wasn't this mission going to be very interesting. For him and for his team.


	2. Chapter 2

"Sooo… I'm not sure how this going to work." Steve starts. "Do you?" He asks looking over at Bruce and Natasha sitting across from him. The Avengers had dispersed quickly as soon as they entered Avengers Tower. Steve, Bruce and Natasha automatically went to Bruce's and Natasha's floor to discuss things with a quick stop along the way to pick up Darcy.

Right now they were sitting and trying to figure out how to handle this particular mission. Since it was new to all of them. Bruce shrugs, "I'm not the expert." He turns to look expectantly at his girl.

Natasha sighs and stands up beginning to pace back and forth. "Well since we're very accustom to acting like a family, it wont be that hard to do it when we get settled into the neighborhood where Hydra is at. Fury got us a house three hours down the street from them so that we can be close, but not too close so that they can be suspicious. Fury gave us some files. Bruce where did you put them?"

Bruce points at the bar near the kitchen where two files sit atop filled with paperwork. "I didn't have a chance to look at them." He says.

Steve begins to stand up from his spot, but Natasha's first to move and snatches them up from the counter. She opens it and reads quickly through before beginning to read aloud. "Okay so it says here our names, our occupations, Steve's birth certificate and the address of our home. Blah, blah, blah. Yeah it's all here in the paperwork, Fury- as much as he would like to- wouldn't leave us without any information. Because as much as he would love to play with us, he wouldn't jeopardize the operation like that."

"Does it say anything else that doesn't deal with our cover? Any important information we should know and be cautious about?" Steve asks.

Natasha flips through a few pages after quickly scanning through before settling on the second to last page. "Right here. As of right now, SHIELD is keeping traces on who's going in and out of the house being occupied by Hydra. And right now, they know that 6 people went inside that house. Four men, one woman and a child around the age Steve will be playing. Well, from the time they've moved in, it seems that only 3 are making appearances in and outside the house. The woman, one of the men and the child. The other three haven't been seen since they walked inside that house two months ago. SHIELD is either guessing that they're captives of Hydra or they're working with them and formulating some important plot. Some plot that we're instructed to take down within a time frame of 4 months. That's all that's here, but there's a message saying that there will be further instructions given to us 2 weeks after we get settled into our new 'home." Natasha says putting quotes around home.

Steve stands and goes to join Natasha, looking down at the paperwork in her hands. "May I?" Natasha nods and hands it over before taking a seat beside Bruce. Steve reads for a few minutes, the room staying silent as Darcy watches Steve read and Bruce and Natasha have a silent conversation.

Darcy stands, "What does it say? What age will you be?" Steve glances up at her before handing her his 'birth certificate'. Darcy looks down at reads, "You're name is Aiden Gordon, you're 2 years old, and you're parents are Sarah and Caleb Gordon."

"And Sarah Gordon is 28 year old, kindergarten teacher, but quit to be a stay at home mom. While Caleb Gordon is a 32 year old, paramedic." Steve finishes. "We begin a week from today. And we have to go to HQ and switch out our SUV for a U- Haul and our disguises. That's about it. There are more files at the house and like Natasha said before it will able about 2 weeks before we get more instructions."

"So we just wait until next week?" Bruce asks.

Natasha nods, "Pretty much. And Steve is looks like you're going to be a toddler for much longer than usual. You up for that?"

Steve cant sense the happiness radiating off his mother's body. He smiles at her, "Of course I am."

**** Days Later ****

Natasha checks the time on her watch for the umpteenth time that hour as she anxiously waits for Tony and Bruce to walk out of the lab. Her leg bounces nervously as she cant find herself being able to sit still long enough. So after a few minutes, she results to stand and pacing the floor.

"Would you calm down? You're going to pace a hole in Pepper's fancy carpet and it's going to be my fault."

Natasha whirls around and faces the door when she hears Tony's cocky voice. She relaxes immediately when she sees Steve in Bruce's arms. 2 year old Steve Rogers to be specific.

A smile spreads across her face instantly and she reaches out to retrieve her son. Steve reaches out for her with a large, goofy grin on his face. "Mama!"

Natasha lifts Steve out of Bruce's arms and presses him against her chest. "Hi sweetie."

Steve begins to bounce excitedly in her arms, but his eyebrows crease when he looks at her. "Brown?" He asks picking up a piece of Natasha's hair and pointing at it.

Natasha laughs, "No sweetie, mommy didn't dye her hair yet."

"Looks like baby Steve remembers everything that adult Steve read on the file. So he's confused as to why he doesn't see you with brown hair and hazel eyes or Brucie here with blue eyes and blonde hair. That sure to be a sight." Tony snickers, bending over in laughter.

Bruce glares at Tony before going to stand beside Natasha and Steve. "We have a couple hours before the SUV will come to get us. We need to get ready."

Natasha frowns. She definitely wasn't looking forward to becoming a brunette. "I'm going to miss my red hair. I've only been brunette once and I hated it, never did it again."

Bruce gives her a look, "And you think I'm looking forward to becoming a blonde?"

"Hey, blame Steve. He's the one that was born with blonde hair. Huh Steve?" Natasha says looking down and tickling her son. Steve replies with loud squeals of delight as slaps Natasha's chest with his hands.

"Okay get on out of here before you two can begin a make out session and hurt mine and Steve's eyes." Tony says ushering the two to the elevator. He plucks Steve out of Natasha's arms when they reach the elevator. "I'm keeping him because I don't want you two to scar him. You'll be in a room alone with him and there's bound to be something going on while you two get dressed."

Natasha and Bruce glare at the grinning genius, but make no attempt to getting Steve back from him. In fact Natasha leans in and presses her lips against Bruce's sloppily, just to annoy Tony. Tony rolls his eyes and pushes the two of them into the elevator when the doors open. "Have fun." He says before walking away with Steve and the doors close.

**** Later ****

"Wow, you look… so different. Both of you." Darcy comments when Bruce and Natasha walk out of the elevator and onto the Tower's common room floor. The others look up at Darcy's comment and it takes everything they have not to burst into laughter at the sight of the two.

Tony, sitting on the loveseat with Pepper whom carries Steve on her lap, smirks at them and holds up a glass of whatever he drinking up at them. "Everyone, welcome the new couple Mr. and Mrs. Sarah and Caleb Gordon." And that's when everyone claps.

Natasha rolls her eyes and flips the bird to everyone. "But wait!" Clint says standing and going to retrieve Steve from Pepper. "They're forgetting one crucial piece to their cover." He walks over and hands Steve to Natasha before backing away. "There, now it's complete."

"Now that you're done mocking us," Bruce says rolling his eyes, "can we go now?"

Pepper laughs, "Yeah. Your suitcases have been delivered, the U- Haul is on his way and here are you're fake rings that you'll be wearing. Coulson dropped these off." Pepper pulls out the two wedding rings that Natasha and Bruce would be wearing. "Better put them on now."

Natasha frowns at the sight of the two rings. This may just be an undercover mission, but she never thought of herself as a wife. Despite it just being a mission, Natasha felt uneasy about putting that ring on her ring finger. It meant that, fake or not, she was going to be a wife none of the less. Something that she didn't want to be. They, meaning her and Bruce, had a long discussion about this particular topic. They weren't anywhere ready to get married nor have any children. Steve was enough for a couple of years and what they had now, their relationship, was enough for them at the moment.

Which is why when Bruce grabbed the rings from Pepper and turned to Natasha, she involuntarily shivered. He gave her a reassuring nod and placed a kiss on her cheek before handing her the ring she was to be wearing. Steve grabs the ring from her before she had a chance to put it on and holds it out for him to admire. He smiles happily, "Purdy!" He says jumping up and down in Natasha's arms.

Natasha nods in agreement because the ring was pretty; it was really beautiful to be honest. It had half a heart engraved on it with a small diamond in the middle. It was gorgeous, too bad that it used for a fake marriage. Natasha took it from Steve and quickly put it on her finger before she could second guess herself.

She looked over at Bruce's whom had hesitated before putting on his and admire the design engraved on it. It was the same as her, but the half heart was facing the other direction. "If you put the rings together, the half hearts create a full heart." Pepper says to Natasha's perplexed expressions.

Natasha looks up at her, Pepper nodding in encouragement, before she holds her hand up beside Bruce's to confirmed Pepper's statement. If you did put the rings next to each other, they did create a full heart. "Aw, how sweet." Tony said sarcastically before pretending to gag. "This room is so full of love and care that it's revolting." He says exaggerating.

Natasha and Bruce shake their heads mockingly, "Please," Natasha says. "You wish you were the one up here with a wedding ring up your finger."

Tony looks taken back and he stares shocked up at her, "Please tell me you didn't just say that." He glances at his girlfriend who had a mischievous glint in her eyes. He sighs, dropping his head in his hands, "You just gave her an idea!"

"Good, you deserve it." Bruce replies.

"Agent Romanoff, Dr. Banner the SUV has just arrived outside the building for you." JARVIS announces a minute later.

Natasha sighs, hoisting Steve higher up, "Guess that's us. See you all in a few months."

Darcy stands and walks over to the three. "Call us when you get there." She bends down to be at eyelevel with Steve. "And you be good mister."

Steve giggles and reaches out to grab Darcy's nose. He nods his head and places a kiss on her cheek. "I wub you." He says.

"I love you too sweetie." Darcy says returning him with one of her own kisses. "Stay safe." He gives her a thumb up which emits a laugh from everyone in the room. Darcy straightens and looks up at Bruce and Natasha, a serious look in her eyes. "Please, keep him safe and you two don't do anything stupid."

Natasha nods and places a hand on Darcy's shoulder, "Don't worry about him. He'll be fine. Besides if something happens, we'll have the machine with us. Steve already knows to run to it and change back so that he can help us if need arises."

"Good." Darcy smiles and skips back to the couch where she plops down on the couch besides Jane.

"Bye guys, have fun being a married couple." Jane says. "And you have to come back to tell us how it's like living like normal people. What they do and how they live their lives."

"Will do. See you later." Natasha says as she's escorted to waiting elevator by Bruce. As soon as the door closes, Natasha sighs, "Get ready." Without turning to face him, she looks down at Steve and smiles at her son. "Because it all starts now."


	3. Chapter 3

The house was decked out. It was well situated in a nice, but not suspiciously nice neighborhood. It had small windows, carpet floors and luxurious furniture, courteous of SHIELD.

Natasha couldn't help, but nod approvingly when she entered the house with Steve on her hip. Bruce followed closely behind carrying two suitcases. "Wow, SH-… I mean you did a great job picking out the furniture hunny. The house looks great." Bruce backtracked after Natasha sent him a glare and nodded her head to the corner of the room. Bruce discreetly turned in that direction to see a hidden camera lines peeking at them from the ceiling, disguised as a ceiling plant.

Natasha smiles and turns around to face him, "Thank you. It was so difficult having to decide between leather or acrylic, and glass or wood. But I do believe leather and wood is a much better choice. Safer too for someone who likes to get his hands on everything." Natasha replies in an unusually chipper tone as she tickles Steve's belly. Steve responds with a high pitch squeal as he struggles in his mother's arms.

Steve reaches out past Natasha and to Bruce, "Dada help!" He says between laughs.

Bruce smiles and places the suitcases down before going to retrieve his son. Steve sighs in relief once out of his mother's arms and teasingly sticks his tongue out at her. She returned it laughing. "Sarah, why don't we go finish bringing everything in and then start unpacking." Bruce suggests.

"Actually you stay with Aiden; I'll go bring everything in. I don't feel comfortable leaving him alone in this new neighborhood." Natasha replies.

Bruce shakes his head, "No, if anything you stay with him." Bruce hands Steve back. "And I'll go bring everything in. I'll bring in his playpen and crib first so you can put him down." Natasha opens her mouth to protest, but Bruce cuts her off before she can speak. "Don't, now go." He says ushering her upstairs. "Go check out the rooms and see if everything turned out the way you pictured it." And then he's out the door.

Natasha frowns, but none of the less turns it into a smile quickly and rushes up the stairs with Steve.

E8E8E8E8E8E8E8

When Natasha returned back downstairs holding Steve's hand, Bruce had brought all their bags and boxes out of the U-haul. There were very few suitcases and a lot of boxes. Boxes that neither Natasha nor Bruce knew what were in them. But that didn't matter at the moment because Natasha couldn't find Bruce anywhere.

"Caleb?" she calls out staying at the foot of the stairs.

There's shuffling in the back of the room than Bruce pops out from behind two boxes. "I'm right here. Sorry, just bringing in the last box."

"So there's nothing left in the U-haul?" Natasha asks walking around the boxes to meet up with Bruce, Steve trailing behind.

Bruce shakes his head, but the look he gave Natasha made her uneasy. She raised an eyebrow in silent question. "No there's nothing in there, and I think we might have company soon."

"What do you mean?" Natasha asks immediately reaching down and scooping Steve up protectively in her arms.

"I saw the neighbor next door look out their window at me. I think she just realized we're new."

Natasha's shoulder slump in relief. She had a feeling the Hydra women and child were coming. She wasn't ready to meet them at the moment and she was slightly scared of Steve's safety. She wanted to make sure Steve was safe before they met up and talked. Besides SHIELD never told her and Bruce what to do with them. How were they supposed to approach them and what exactly were they supposed to do? Which is what the further instructions were supposed to tell them. "Hey babe, did you happen to find the paperwork?" She says giving him a look. "You know the application for that new job as a paramedic."

Bruce got the message and nodded his head. "Yeah, it was on the dresser when we walked in." He reached behind him and pulled out a yellow folder. "Here I trust you to deliver it, because I'm very forgetful."

"Of course, here take Aiden." Natasha says handing Steve over. "I'll go put it in my purse."

Bruce nods and sits on the couch with Steve on his lap. Natasha smiles at them before walking away. When she locks herself into the bathroom, her smile drops along with her façade. She walks up to the counter and places the file down, opening it.

She only sees one piece of paper. _'One?'_ she questions to herself.

**1: Follow the three that make appearances out of the house. Get their regular schedules and begin to adapt to their schedule. You're going to be continuing this schedule until they notice you. When they do, stop completely. Contact HQ when they do. Further instructions until then.**

"That's it?" she whispers to herself, turning the paper around and around trying to find something else that isn't there. "Huh?" She puts the paper down and straightens, her fingers tapping against the counter. "Sounds simple enough."

Just then the doorbell rings. Natasha stiffens instantly and she shuts the folder as quickly as she can. She grabs the folder, folds it in half and tucks it in her purse before zipping it shut. Before walking outside the bathroom, she places her mask back on and goes to find Bruce and Steve. She finds them standing at the doorway waiting for her. She nods at him and Bruce opens the door revealing a young woman- probably early twenties- wearing a suit and pencil skirt. She was holding a glass dish in her hand and Natasha can easily see a home- baked, or store- bought (you never know), cake in her hand.

_'__This should be interesting.' _Natasha walked up to meet with Bruce and Steve. She grabbed Steve from Bruce and nodded politely at the women. "Hello! I couldn't help, but notice the U-haul in your front house. I didn't know I was getting new neighbors! Hi, my name is Ashley. Ashley Royce!"

_'__God, she's one of those enthusiastic women. The ones that are excited about EVERYTHING!' _Natasha internally frowns, but externally her smile got bigger. "Nice to meet you Ashley." Bruce says politely nodding his head. He shook her outstretched palm and gestured beside him at Natasha and Steve. "My name is Caleb and this is my wife Sarah and our son Aiden."

"Oh gosh!" She says leaning forward, her smile growing bigger. "He's soo adorable! Your son is just a precious little thing." Steve shrinks away from her, uneasy and slightly scared of her. He winces and turns his head away from Ashley and places it on Natasha's shoulder. Natasha's arm instinctively wraps around him and begins to rock him.

"Sorry, he's very shy around new people." She explains to Ashley. "And he missed his afternoon nap, so he's a little cranky." That was true. Steve didn't sleep on the way to the house and was a little grouchy and silent.

Ashley beamed at her, "That is quite alright. Well I just wanted to drop by and be the first to welcome you the neighborhood. Also to give you this homemade, fat free chocolate cake." She says passing it on to Bruce.

"Wow, thank you. That's very nice of you." Bruce says, but Natasha can catch the hint of annoyance in his eyes. She can relate. The women's voice was giving her a headache.

"You're welcome. Well goodbye, I'll see you around." She says turning to leave. Bruce begins to close the door, but she suddenly turns back to them. "Oh and I forgot! My husband and I are having a dinner party this Friday to celebrate his promotion in the military; it's for the entire neighborhood. You should come; it would be a great opportunity for you to meet everyone. And be such a wonderful opportunity for Aiden to meet the neighborhood kids."

Natasha's eyes slight bug out and she's quick to step in. "Everyone?"

Ashley nods, "Yep," She turns and begins to point out who's coming and their houses. "The Sanchez, Lopez, Gonzalez, Rosales, and Relavaques are coming. Also them." Natasha's smile got bigger when Ashley's finger points at the Hydra house. "I don't know they're last name, nor who they are. They just moved here two months ago and are very secluded. But they graciously accepted my invitation to come to the party."

"Well then, we'll be there." Natasha says instantly earning her a peculiar glance from Bruce that Ashley, thankfully, didn't catch.

"Great! It's 6 o'clock, at my house. See you then!"

"Bye!" Natasha says giving her genuine smile. Ashley walks away and Natasha closes the door.

Bruce turns to her, "Why are you we going?" he asks.

"Because you heard Ashley, they're going." Natasha says inclining her head towards the Hydra house. "If they go, we need to go and keep a close eye on them."

"Are all of them going? Or just the women, child and man?"

Natasha shrugs, "Who knows, but we're still going regardless. Despite if that women's voice gives me a headache." Natasha raises a hand and begins to massage her temple. Ashley's high pitched voice brought forth a migraine. "Here take Aiden."

"Why don't you go take a nap, I'll watch him for a little bit." Natasha nods and gives Bruce a kiss on the cheek and Steve a kiss on the forehead before retreating upstairs. Bruce looks down at Steve, "Well… Aiden, looks like it's just you and me for a few hours. What do you want to do?"

Steve smiles up at him, "Ice cream dada! Ice cream!" He squeals, clapping his hands together excitedly.

Bruce shakes his head, "You and you're ice cream."

Steve leans his head against Bruce's shoulder and stares up innocently at Bruce through his eyelashes. "Pwease?" Steve asks, sticking out his bottom lip.

Bruce smiles, "I can't say no to that face… Alright."

Steve lets out a happy laugh as he leans in and kisses Bruce's cheek. "Tank you!"

"Yeah you're lucky I love you because you're mother is going to kill me when she finds out." Steve answers with a high pitched giggle as he's carried into the kitchen for his ice cream.


	4. Chapter 4

**I dedicate this chapter to the event that happened on this day 13 years old.**

**R.I.P to all those who lost their lives in the tower attack. No one will ever forget.**

**Always remember 9- 11!**

Natasha took a deep breath before stepping out of the bathroom and in front of the body length mirror to look at her reflection. Reaching beside her, she grabs her fake wedding ring and a really expensive looking necklace that Natasha had to buy because she had a SHIELD credit card on her. (Who else gets to say that Nick Fury bought them a golden, diamond encrusted necklace? She reasoned)

Placing the necklace around her neck, she places it against her chest before putting her wedding ring on. Natasha then ran her hands down the sides of her ruby red, strapless dress. Her hair fell just below her breasts in curly waves and her black boots end mid-thigh. She deemed herself fit for a dinner with her neighbors and she made sure she had three guns, two knives and a taser concealed in her boots, the holsters on her inner thigh and her hair. She also made sure she stashed Bruce's suit with some weapons.

In case, something happened.

She continued to admire herself for a few minutes before a whistle catches her attention. Turning around, Natasha finds Bruce barely entering the bedroom holding Steve's hand. Both boys were decked out in matching slacks, white shirt and black jacket. Natasha couldn't help, but laugh because they both looked so adorable. Like father, like son. Steve grinned up at her cheekily before letting go of Bruce's hand and walking up to her. "Mommy look purdy." He says, looking over his shoulder at Bruce.

Bruce nods in agreement, "Yeah, mommy does look really pretty."

Natasha rolls her eyes before turning around to face her boys. "Please, you both beat me by far. You look good Bruce." Bruce smiles and nods his head in thanks. "And Steve," She bends down on her knees and grabs his chin softly. "you look super handsome in your tuxedo."

"Momma like?" Steve asks, a smile slowly spreading upon his face.

Natasha leans in and kisses his cheek, "Momma really likes."

Steve beams proudly up at her before reaching out and touching her dress. "Soft." He commented.

Natasha and Bruce laugh before she bends down and picks him up. Placing him on her hip, she looks at him. "Ready to make new friends." And that's when Steve started to become shy. He shook his head before burying himself in his mother's side, trying to disappear."You don't wanna make new friends?" Steve nodded his head.

"He's shy." Bruce explained.

Natasha shrugged, "That's okay Steve. So is daddy."

Bruce frowned at her, "That was five years ago. I'm over being shy now."

Natasha smiled at him before smoothing out Steve's suit. "We should go." She frowns. "I don't really want to be in a room with those kind of people. They'll soon make your head hurt, just wait."

Bruce nods, "I believe you." He nods towards the door. "Let's go." He follows Natasha and Steve as they walk out of the room and out of the house.

E8E8E8E8E8E8E8E8E8E8E8

"Hi!" Ashley greets in her high pitched voice as she opens the door. "I'm so glad you could make it. Come in!" She ushers them inside quickly before closing the door and turning to them. "Oh gosh, Sarah, you're dress is just gorgeous. It really brings out your green eyes."

Natasha offers her a fake smile as her eyes wander the house in search of anything suspicious. She turned her attention back to Ashley when she deemed the house safe. "Thank you. You're dress is beautiful as well." Natasha lied through her gritted teeth. It was difficult to get that sentence out of her mouth because it was both a lie and something Natasha wasn't used to. Clothing was always the last thing on her mind, along with other useless stuff such as makeup, accessories and hairstyles. The rainbow dress Ashley had on was definitely not pretty and it made her cleavage show way more than needed. It sort of made her look like a hooker.

Ashley beamed, "Thank you. Hi Aiden!" Ashley leaned forward and waved at Steve. Steve shrinks back and tucks himself further into Natasha's arm as he laid his head on Natasha's shoulder. Natasha sent her a fake apologetic smile. "That's alright, still shy I guess. Well hopefully after tonight, he makes friends with some of the children. Come this way, everyone's almost here. We're just missing one family." She gestured for Bruce and Natasha to follow her and they do. They're led through a hallway before entering the living room where they see about 15 other people sitting around talking, drinking, and children running around, playing. "Everyone," Ashley says gathering everyone's attention. All the adults stop their conversation to look up, but the children continue to play, "This is Sarah and Caleb Gordon and their son, Aiden. They just moved next door." There was a chorus of greetings before it became silent again. "Sarah, Caleb, this is everyone."

Natasha nodded her hello, while Bruce said a quiet "Hi."

"Well dinner is almost ready, so go ahead and make yourselves at home. We'll call everyone when-" Ashley was interrupted by the doorbell. Natasha and Bruce instantly tensed because that had to be the Hydra people since everyone here. But they quickly composed themselves before they drew attention and took a seat on the empty loveseat on the side of the room. "That should be them." Ashley squealed before disappearing down the hall.

A little girl, around Steve's age, toddled up to them when they took a seat and gave the couple a smile. "Hi." She said sweetly to Steve.

Steve didn't reply, he buried himself further into Natasha. "I'm sorry sweetie, he's shy." She explained, cradling Steve in her arms.

"Pearla." One of the mothers said coming over to them. She bent down in front of the girl, "why don't you go play with the others? Aiden doesn't want to play right now. Maybe later." Pearla looked back at Steve with a sad look in her eyes, but nodded and walked away slowly. She really wanted to play with him.

The mother looked up, "Sorry. She's really expressive and loves to make new friends."

Natasha nodded, "That's okay."

Soon Ashley appears with a woman and child right behind her. The child was holding his mother's hand as he toddled into the room. At the sight of them, everything stops. The children stop playing and turns to look at them while the parent's conversations die down. It's silent for a few moments as everyone takes in the new arrivals, even Natasha and Bruce. They exchange a glance before she reaches over and retrieves his hand.

It's Ashley that breaks the awkward silence. "Guys, this is Bridget and her little boy, Sam. Unfortunately her husband, Williams, couldn't make it, but at least they could."

Bruce and Natasha gave each other a look and she internally rolled her eyes. She made a mental note to herself to send Fury their names.

Ashley smiled, "Well I just got confirmation from the chief that dinner is ready. Right this way." She said gesturing for everyone to follow.

E8E8E8E8E8E8E8E8E8

Natasha and Bruce kept a close eye on the woman and discreetly typed down everything she said on their phones. They were going to go through it during the night and see if what she said during small talk would mean anything. Or have anything underlining their words because the quicker they got their hands on anything, the better.

Steve seemed to be comfortable just sitting in Natasha's lap as he took pieces of her food from her plate. He didn't want to sit at the children's table, still shy around the older children and the kids the same age as him. Natasha and Bruce once in a while joined in the conversation to be polite and 'make friends' as Ashley suggested.

By the end of the night, they're phones had less than three pages of notes. Bridget preferred to stay silent and observe, but every once in a while someone would bring her into the conversation. Then from there she would slide her way back out, by changing the subject. Just like Natasha and Bruce did.

The couple left the dinner party after they finished their deserts. With a quick goodbye and thanks for their invitations, Natasha Bruce and Steve left.

When they made it back home, Natasha immediately went to her laptop and typed down all of Bridget's responses. She was planning on emailing it to Fury in the morning because now she has some research to do on Bridget's and Sam's whereabouts.

Bruce, after putting Steve in his PJs, came back down and let his son play around before bed time. He walked up behind her and peered at what she was doing. He whispered so softly that if the cameras were watching them, there was no one they would be able to hear what he's saying.

"Fury said there was a file on here with video feeds of the camera currently watching Hydra's house. It should be able to tell us what they time they leave their house every morning and when they return. From there we follow them and make mental notes of their whereabouts. And as the file states, we continue to follow them until they notice us."

Natasha nods and begins to search for the file. It was fairly easy to find. Natasha wondered if they should look at it now or in the morning when they woke up. She looked up at Bruce and debated, but it didn't matter to her. It was all the same whether if she opened it now or later. She raised an eyebrow at Bruce silently questioning him. "We'll do it tomorrow." He said aloud and judging from the cameras, they could be talking about anything at the moment.

Natasha nodded and closed the laptop before turning around to face him. She whispered in the same tone Bruce first did, "I'll follow the women and child, you go after Williams. See what he does. It will most likely be much more needed information than Bridget and Sam since it looks like he's the leader."

Bruce nods, "I'll wake up early tomorrow then." He said out loud.

Natasha nodded then looked down when someone suddenly tugged on her pants. She smiles at Steve and scoops him in her arms. "Hi sweetie. How are you?" Steve answers by letting out a large yawn.

"Tired." Bruce says laughing.

Natasha laughs, "I'm going to go put him down." Bruce nods and watches as Natasha walks up the stairs with Steve on her hip.

Suddenly his phone begins to ring and he reaches into his pocket to retrieve it. One look at the caller ID had him rolling his eyes. He answered it anyway, "Hello?"

"Brucie! My man, how's the domesticated life going?"

"Why should I tell you? You already know? You're watching it." Bruce says glancing up at the camera.

Tony laughs, "True. But I find it really cute. 'Sweetie', 'baby'; you're domesticated all the way. You've all been from the start."

Bruce rolls his eyes, "Did you just call me to tease us or do you have anything?"

"Negatory on that, but- shockingly- I didn't just call you to tease you. Fury wants me to deliver a message."

"What's the message?" Bruce inquires looking up the stairs and finding Natasha walking back down. She sees him on the phone and raises an eyebrow. Bruce answers by mouthing 'Stark' and suddenly Natasha's lost all interest on his phone call. She rolls her eyes and walks away without a question.

Bruce hears Tony scoff from the other side of the phone, "Well first of all, tell Romanoff I take offense to her lack of curiosity of my phone call." Bruce laughs. "And second, Fury says that's there's been a leak in SHIELD system. Someone's spilling out information about us and what we're trying to accomplish and apparently Hydra knows. They know SHIELD is out there trying to stop them and are very cautious of what they're doing now. So things may be done a little differently and plans might be change, but the most important thing is to stay attentive and wait for instructions. This mission may take longer than originally planned now that Hydra knows so we have to stay under the radar until further notice. Got it?"

"Got it." Bruce lowers his voice to where the cameras wont catch it. "Who's watching the video feed? Is it safe for Natasha and I call ourselves our real names and Steve?"

"Fury, Hill, Coulson, Barton, Thor and myself. Also a few SHIELD agents as well, but due to the leak, it's highly likely that it's just going to be brought down to the six of us. So yes, it is safe. But don't do it so soon, it's like a soap opera over here. Hearing you call each other cute pet names and being all lovey dovey with each other."

"I'm hanging up now Stark." Bruce warns, his finger hovering over the end button.

"Kidding, kidding. So yes it is safe, but Fury would like it if once in a while you're brought back to your characters. In case someone enters this room that's unauthorized and we don't want any complications. Okay?"

"Okay, thanks for calling to tell us the message. I'll be sure to let Natasha know."

"You got it buddy and don't forget that I'll be checking once in a while. And Pepper and I are sending some stuff for Steve so the poor child doesn't die of boredom over there." Tony warns.

Bruce raises an eyebrow in confusion, "He seemed fine to me a minute ago when he was playing."

"Dude you were busy looking at files on the computer with Nat. Steve just sat there the entire time doing nothing and when he was done, he crawled up to you guys. We're sending stuff."

"I think that's a little risky right now." Bruce says slightly worried.

"A box full of baby clothes and toys is risky? Fury thinks it's the perfect thing to send to you at a time like this. And who knows? They're might be a little something in there for you two as well."

"Stark I-"

"Whoops, got to go Brucie. Barton's turn to watch while I go down to the research department to see what I can find. Call you later, have fun. But not too much fun we don't need Natie knocked up during this. It wouldn't do any good for her case."

Bruce rolls his eyes. "Bye Stark." And he hangs up.

"Stark piss you off? Looks like he did." Natasha asks as she walks out of the room with two glasses of wine.

"You know Stark." Bruce replies as he grabs his glass. "Fury says that-"

"I know." Natasha nods. "Barton called when I was putting Steve down. Steve even got to speak to Uncle Clint for a minute before he fell asleep."

"So, I guess we don't start right away."

Natasha nods, "In two weeks, that will give Hydra time to cool down and go back to what they were originally doing before they were contacted. Fury's on a mad hunt to find the leak," Natasha explains as she takes a sip of wine. "He's pissed as hell and is determined to find them and fire their asses before locking them up. He doesn't want anything jeopardizing this mission. I think it's the most important yet."

"Now I feel special," Bruce nods between sips.

Natasha smiles up at him before pecking his lips with hers. "You're always special. Now what did Stark say? Let's not have too much fun. Well, I'd like to make him pay for interrupting our quiet time together."

Bruce raises an eyebrow, "Are you thinking what I think your thinking?"

"I don't know. Depends." Natasha gives him a quick kiss before walking away and towards the stairs. Halfway up, she looks down at him and cocks an eyebrow before continuing upstairs. Bruce follows willingly with a boyish grin on his face.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, Natasha and Bruce were awoken by Steve's distressed cries. It alarms them as they open their eyes and sit up in bed. When the cries get louder, the couple reacts immediately and jumps out of bed. Steve never cries in the morning. He always waits for Natasha and Bruce to come get him; it's rare when he does cry. Which alarms Natasha and Bruce even more.

When they're halfway down the hallway, running for Steve's room, they crying abruptly stops. But that's not what worries them… it's Steve's ajar door that scares them. Bruce and Natasha made sure it was closed last night and seeing it opened scared them.

Someone's in their house, in their son's room with him. _'Not my baby.'_ Natasha thinks sending a deadly vow to whoever was in the room with her son.

Natasha pulls out the gun from her holster on her thigh and stops running to silently walk up to the open door. Bruce follows behind, letting Natasha lead. They both peer into the bedroom and find a figure standing at the crib, holding Steve in their arms, wearing nothing, but black. A black hoodie, black pants and black boots. Their back was turned to them so they couldn't identify the black figure, but one thing for sure… they weren't leaving this house without a scratch.

On the count of three, Bruce and Natasha suddenly burst into the room and the figure hears the click of Natasha's gun. Yet, it doesn't turn around to greet them. Only continues to coo at Steve. Natasha puts the bullet in place.

"Put the baby back in the crib, take three steps back, get on your knees and don't move. You do, you die." Natasha orders in a deadly tone that would make anyone cringe, including the Hulk. The figure stands straight, places Steve in the crib before taking three steps back. But it doesn't get on its knees. Which infuriates Natasha. "On you're knees NOW!" Natasha screams pressing the tip of her gun to the person's head.

Bruce takes that time to run to the crib and grab Steve before backing away from Natasha and the person. But one look at the person's face, had Bruce reeling in confusion. Before Natasha can do anything to harm them, Bruce stops her. "Maria?"

"What?" Natasha asks looking up at him. When Natasha's eyes are away from her target, the person abruptly stood up, took the gun from Natasha's hand and disarms it before Natasha can even blink. One look at the person's face confirmed what Bruce said.

Maria stood there, in all black as she dropped the gun she disarmed. "You know, its fairly easy for anyone to break into the house and… I don't know, kidnap Steve. I mean, I did. So I suggest you get an alarm system or something to keep Steve watched on at all time."

"We do." Natasha replies coolly as she reaches down to retrieve the fallen gun. "It's called Steve. When he cries, we'll know." Maria rolls her eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"Tony told you we'd be checking in." Maria replied to Bruce as she took off her hoodie.

"His exact words was he would be checking in and I thought by the phone." Bruce answers.

Maria shrugs, "Where's the fun in a phone call? This is where all the action is at."

"So what do we say when once in a while random people begin to break into our house?" Natasha inquires raising an eyebrow.

Hill laughs, "Relax no one saw me and besides we don't have to. We have a key, but I just wanted to see how easy it is to break in. Just call us your… friends."

"So we should be expecting more visits?" Bruce asks. Maria nods. "Well just inform us whenever you want to visit and please don't go to Steve first because if you do, we'll shoot before asking questions. Come to us."

Hill nods, "I know. Just wanted to see what you guys would do." She smirks at them before turning to leave. Just before leaving, she looks back at them, "We've gathered more Intel on what Hydra's planning. Stark discovered it last night. You'll get the file in a couple days." The couple nodded.

"Wait Hill before you go," Natasha gestures for Maria to follow her downstairs. Bruce and Steve follow closely behind. Maria follows Natasha to the computer and after copying information they've gathered on a flash drive, she passes it over to the duty director. "That file contains things Bridget had said yesterday at the dinner party and anything else we could gather from our side."

Maria pockets the flash drive with a nod. "I'll get this to Stark as soon as possible. We'll see you in two weeks, lay low." She reminds them, pointing at the couple as she made her way to the front door which is ajar. Just as Hill left it.

"Bye Aunt Maria!" Steve exclaims waving at her. "Love you!"

Maria smiles at the young boy, "Goodbye Steve." She says before leaving. There was no way she was going to tell Captain Rogers, despite him being a baby, 'I love you' back.

Steve frowns when Maria leaves, but shrugs and forgets about it. He turned to Bruce, "I wote up and saw her at my bed." Steve says pointing up yesterday. "I gots scared and cried… den I saw Auntie Maria and I stops."

"You scared us buddy, you should've told us it was Aunt Maria."

"I triwed, but mama haded that scawy thing." Steve said pointing at the gun in Natasha's hand. "And I gots scared aden."

"I'm sorry my love, mama was scared. She thought Auntie Maria was a bad person." Natasha apologizes, holstering the gun.

"It's otay. I for… for…"

"Forgive." Bruce helps.

Steve nods, "Yes. I for- give you." He says reaching out for Natasha to grab him.

"Good. You hungry sweetie?" Natasha places Steve on her hip, bouncing him a little. Steve nods before wrapping his arms around her neck. "Come on, let's go. I'll make breakfast." Natasha walks into the kitchen, placing Steve in his highchair as she goes to make them breakfast.

But as she was making breakfast, she couldn't help, but get distracted. Her mind wandered to something Bridget said at dinner last time that unsettled her slightly. Okay, unsettled her a lot and she feared for Steve. Bridget had just been asked if she and William were going to have another child and she answered with a smile.

"_Why yes, except this time we're planning to adopt." She answered._

_Ashley beams, "Really?"_

"_Yep, we've been to a couple of orphanages. And I think we've gotten our child picked out already." Natasha looked over at Bruce and raised an eyebrow. He discreetly shrugged and Natasha couldn't help the instinctive tightening of her arms around Steve. Natasha expected that to be last thing Bridget said on the subject, but surprisingly she continued. "He's such a sweet little boy and will make a great addition to the family."_

"_What's he look like? How old is he?"_

_Bridget looks around the table before her eyes land on Steve and a wicked smile came on her face. Natasha instantly felt her maternal instincts being act up at the way Bridget was looking at Steve. "He's 2, almost 3. Has blonde hair, blue eyes. He's shy as well. Just like Aiden… exactly like Aiden."_

It was clear who Bridget was talking about, but Natasha didn't like it. Not one bit. Also, it was clear what Bridget's words implied. She and William were on the hunt for Steve. Luckily they don't know that Natasha, Bruce and Steve are a part of SHIELD. They know SHIELD is after them and is suspicious, but doesn't suspect Natasha and Bruce to be agents. Which is sadly a mistake on their part.

Sadly, Bridget doesn't know that she had just given Natasha and Bruce clues on what they were planning. They're looking for Steve and the first place they're going to look is at Avengers Tower.

Natasha made sure to put that in the files to warn Tony of the attack that might be coming to the Avengers and to also hide Pepper, Jane and Darcy. She definitely didn't want another thing like one of the girls to get kidnapped again. Darcy was badly injured and if they took Jane or Pepper, they'd make sure to do much worse to them if they were captured.

Now as Hydra devises a plan to get into the Tower, Natasha will use that as their distraction to gain entrance into their home. To see if they can find anything. It will be risky and will require Bruce, her and adult Steve, but they'll manage. They just have to put Steve through the machine, get in and out with whatever they find, and then turn him back before anyone notices.

Boy, do she and Bruce have a lot to work on when it comes to stealthy because, to be honest, Bruce is not exactly what you would refer to as quiet. Despite him being small and puny as a human, he's surprisingly loud. Almost as loud as the Hulk!

Still she's determined to help him get better. They cant put out their plan to sneak now, it will have to take weeks before they can. Hydra is on the look out and doing things with so much precision that they cant get caught. It will have to be when they let their guard down when Natasha, Bruce and Steve will strike.


	6. Chapter 6

Natasha's head shoots up when she hears the familiar sound of Steve's laugh. She was sitting in the middle of her bed she shared with Bruce reading a book when his high pitched laugh disturbed her and she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face.

Closing her book, she sets it aside to go investigate what or who is making Steve laugh like that. And when she followed it down the hall and into Steve's room, the sight that greeted her made her heart swell with love.

Bruce had picked Steve up and was currently swinging him around the room by his arms, being careful not to hurt him, but also having fun at the same time. Steve giggled uncontrollably as his head wobbled from side to side. After a minute of spinning, Bruce had changed position and now held Steve upside down by his ankle. Steve laughed and slapped his hand excitedly against Bruce's thigh. "DADA!" He squeals happily. "Down!" Steve laughs.

"Not until you say you love me." Bruce teases, bouncing Steve up and down by his leg gently.

Steve giggled and teasingly yell "NO! Down!"

At this point the boys were absorbed into what they're doing that they haven't noticed the redhead lingering in the doorway, watching them with an amused smile. Steve and Bruce were having too much fun with each other.

"Nope." Bruce laughs. "Say you love me first, and then I'll put you down. And say I'm the smartest, funniest, best daddy in the whole wide world."

Steve frowned up at him playfully and crossed his arms across his chest, liking the feeling of being upside down. "No." He said stubbornly.

"Then I guess you'll have to stay upside down."

Steve raised an eyebrow up at his dad which caused both Natasha and Bruce to laugh out loud. The moment Steve raised his eyebrow, he looked exactly like Natasha when she's irritated and annoyed. Which, when she's around Tony and Clint, is what she always looks like.

Bruce and Steve turned at the sound of Natasha's laugh and they both smile at her. "Hi momma!" Steve greets waving at her upside down.

"Hi Steve." Natasha walks into the room and over to the boys. She bends down on her knees to get on eyelevel with Steve. She points his belly making his laugh. "Tell me sweetie… why are you upside down?"

"'Cause of daddy. He twying to makes me says lies." Steve says pointing an accusing finger at Bruce.

Natasha looks up at Bruce and smiles, "Really? Why is that _daddy?"_

During their time there, Natasha and Bruce liked to tease each other by calling each other 'Daddy' and 'Mommy'. So whenever chance they get, when they weren't working or gathering information, they'd call each other their respective title. It made them seem even more domestic when they did it too so it was great for their act.

Bruce laughs, "Well _mommy," _he returned, "Steve here said that he'd preferred to hang out with you rather me. Then he said you were the smartest, funniest, 'bestest'" He quoted Steve, "mother in the whole world. So now I'm trying to get him to say that about me."

Natasha looks back at Steve and kisses his cheek lovingly, "Thank you Steve and you're very right. Daddy isn't any of those things." She stage whispers to him laughing. Steve nods in agreement also laughing.

"Hey!" Bruce exclaims, frowning.

Natasha and Steve laugh and that's when Natasha realizes Steve's tiny face is becoming red. "Time to put him upright Bruce. He's going to get sick." Bruce looks down and pretends to debate on whether he should put Steve upright. Natasha stands and playfully punches Bruce's shoulder, "Bruce." She scolds.

Bruce laughs before using his other hand and wrapping it around Steve's torso. He uprights the child and places him on his hip. "Better?" He asks the dizzy child. Steve raised a hand and placed it on the side of his head, his vision slightly blurry.

Steve nods, "Uh- huh." When Steve gets his vision cleared, he turned to look at Natasha and Bruce. He tugs on Bruce's shirt, "Daddy? Momma?"

"What is it Steve?" Natasha asks.

Steve smiles at the both of them before putting on his puppy dog face. Bruce sighs, "Uh- oh… he wants something. That's his puppy dog face." Natasha laughs shaking her head. "What is it buddy?"

"Pwease, pwease, pwease! Can we go to da park? I wan' to pway." Steve begs, clasping his hands together in front of him.

Bruce and Natasha glance at each other before he shrugs and raises an eyebrow, "I don't know. Can we go mommy?"

Natasha shoots Bruce an irritated look because he put her on the spot. She turns to Steve, "Give mommy one minute. Mommy needs to make a phone call and I'll tell you when I come back. Okay?"

"Okay momma! Hurwy back!" Steve urges as Natasha walks out of the room after shooting Bruce a glance. She makes her way out of the hallway and pulls out her phone.

She quickly dials a number. The person answers on the second ring, "Hello?"

"Barton, its Romanoff."

Meanwhile with Bruce and Steve, Bruce was trying to distract Steve by playing superheroes with him. He got out all of his Avenger action figures and sat himself on the floor. Steve got really excited that Bruce bringing out his favorite toys that he couldn't sit down so he stayed standing. Steve leaned forward and instantly grabbed a hold of the Captain America and Black Widow action figures. He placed the two aside to grab the Hulk one and handed it to Bruce. "Daddy you be Hulk. I be Amwerica and spider." He said holding up Black Widow and Captain America.

"Okay Steve, but isn't mommy supposed to be Black Widow?" Bruce asks knowing fully will that Steve never let anyone play Black Widow, except Natasha.

"Yeah, but she calling Unca Clint now. I be spider till mama comes back." Steve states matters-of-factually.

Bruce smiles before ruffling up Steve's perfect comb hair. "Alright little man, let's play."

...

Natasha comes back in 30 minutes later with a smile on her face. Fake, of course. She looks down at Steve whom had diverted his attention from his action figures momentarily to look at his mother. "Park?" He asks innocently.

Natasha smiles at him and nods, "Yeah. Go pick out your clothes so mommy can get you dressed. Okay?"

Steve jumps up excitedly, "Thank you mama!" Steve shouts before dashing into his closest.

Bruce stands to go help him, Natasha stops him. "Wait, we need to talk."

"What about?" Bruce asks.

Natasha sighs and glances behind him to see if Steve is behind him. Thankfully he's not. "She's going to be at the park, Bridget, with Sam. Unfortunately, this is not a relaxing trip to the park. We need to watch them and Steve needs to make friends with Sam, fast, so we can find a reason to talk to her."

"You know he won't. He's shy."

"We'll convince him, he has to. I need to know if she-" Natasha begins, but then Steve walks behind them and tugs on Bruce's pant leg. "And we will talk about this later. Come on Steve." Natasha scoops him up and goes to his changing table.

E8E8E8E8E8E8E8E8E8

When the three arrive at the park, Natasha instantly begins to scope the area as Bruce, Steve and her make their way towards the playground. She spots Bridget sitting at a table, typing on her phone while little Sam plays in the sandbox not even caring if his mother wasn't watching him. Natasha also couldn't help, but notice three large men standing on all sides of the park. Sunglasses concealed their eyes and they stood with straight posture, arms crossed across their chest. They wore black suits with a tie and their jet black is slick back. Only one word comes to mind when Natasha sees the men. Bodyguards. She can't help, but roll her eyes internally.

Steve frowns when his eyes land on Sam and he looks innocently up at Natasha. "I dunt wanna mama."

"Steve." Natasha warns, giving him a stern look.

Steve sighs, "Do I have to?"

"Yes." Natasha replies.

Steve turns and looks up at Bruce with such a sad face, his bottom lip gutted out slightly. Bruce his shakes his head, "Don't look at me buddy. Listen to your mother." Steve looked down and heaved a big sigh.

He, unwillingly, let go of his mother's hand and begin to walk towards the sandbox, where Sam continues to play. Before stepping inside, he turned to look back at Natasha and Bruce, and they urged him to keep going. He gave them an unhappy frown before stepping inside and making his way towards Sam.

Natasha and Bruce then take that time to go find a seat on the bench. Their eyes glance back and forth between the two small boys beginning to start a conversation and Bridget who never took her eyes off her phone once. Natasha leans her back against Bruce and places her feet up on the bench, her body facing Bridget to keep a close eye on her. Luckily she wore her dark, dark sunglasses that day so Bridget couldn't see what she was looking at and couldn't see that Natasha was staring at her. Bruce's arm encircles her immediately.

Natasha turns her head towards Bruce and whispers extremely low, "She has bodyguards. 3 of them. They're watching everyone, including us." Bruce nods and discreetly glances around the rim of his sunglasses to peer curiously around the park, the three large men seeming to get his attention as well. "Should we leave?" Bruce whispers back. Because there was no way Bruce and Natasha could walk up to her and talk with men watching them. It would be a bad move on their part.

Natasha looks over at Steve and Sam and found the two little boys playing in the sand together as they babbled nonsense to each other. Natasha smiles at Steve when he grabs a fist full of sand and watches, memorized, as the sand slips between his fingers and falls back into the box. He gives a gleeful squeal when there's no more sand in his tiny hand. He was really excited and happy. Natasha couldn't possibly leave with Steve was having fun. She shakes her head, "No we'll stay for a bit. Look at him; he's having too much fun." A smile, just like the one Natasha is sporting, spreads across his face when he sees Steve making a new friend and genuinely enjoying himself. Bruce nods in agreement and the couple enjoys their time at the park as they watch they're happy child roll around in the sand, happily getting dirty. And Natasha allows it, knowing that this is the most fun Steve's had in weeks. Natasha vaguely wonders when Steve's toys will be delivered.

She hopes soon.


	7. Chapter 7

A few days after their visit to the park, Natasha is wide awake seconds before her alarm goes off. As soon as her phone begins to ring, she throws the blankets off of her body to expose the black cat suit she wore underneath. Bruce stirred at the sound of her alarm and he picked his head up sleepily to peer up at Natasha who stood in front of him.

"Nat?" He asks sleepily.

She smiles down at him before plucking the blanket off of him. "Up and adam sleepy head. Vacation time is over and now it's time to work." Unlike Natasha, Bruce was clad only in his boxers and tank top.

Bruce moaned and let his head fall forward onto his pillow. "We're supposed to follow William today, aren't we?" he mutters into the pillow.

"No, _I'm_ supposed to follow him. You and Steve get the privilege of staying in the car watching Disney movies until I'm done."

"How is that a privilege?" Bruce asks without even bothering to remove his head from its place buried in his pillow.

"Because you don't have to do anything. I'm doing the work for now."

Bruce groaned and forced himself out of bed. He ran a hand through his hair before digging the heel of his hands into his eye sockets. "What time is it?" He asks standing.

"6 a.m."

Bruce's eyes nearly pop out of his head. "And you're planning to wake Steve up this early? After he went to bed late last night? You know how that will turn out Nat."

Natasha nods. "I do know and no we're not waking him up. I changed him earlier so we all we have to do is carry him into the car. He'll be passed out for a few hours so you should have free time on your hands while I'm working."

"Lucky me." Bruce says sarcastically.

Natasha rolls her eyes before grabbing Bruce's shoulders and pulling him into a kiss. "Now go take a shower and change. We're leaving in 20 minutes."

"Yes ma'am." Bruce replies with a stupid boyish grin on his face as he walks into the bathroom.

Natasha laughs and leaves the room heading towards Steve's.

E8E8E8E8E8E8E8E8E8E8

An hour later, Bruce Steve and Natasha find themselves parked outside a research laboratory. Turns out their good 'friend' William is a scientist. A research scientist that is, or at least that's what his file says. Steve was far from sleeping. He was in a deep sleep, in his own little dream world at the moment.

Natasha unbuckled her seat belt, kissed Bruce's cheek then got out of the car. After closing the door she leaned into the open window and lowered her voice. "My hairpin is a surveillance camera so," she reached over and activated the camera feeds into the car's monitors. Immediately Bruce saw himself in the three different screens as Natasha's head was pointed to him. "So you'll be able to see what I see. And I have an ear piece too so I'll be able to hear you and you'll be able to hear me, in case we need to communicate."

Bruce pouts, "I don't want to be stuck in a car all day."

Natasha rolls her eyes, "Oh don't be such a baby and you won't be here all day. Just a few hours." Bruce shakes his head clearly displeased. "Would you rather follow Bridget and Sam around all day? She'd most likely be doing maternal stuff, you know, such as shopping for baby stuff. Getting her hair and nails done and don't forget, going clothes shopping. For both her and Sam." Natasha takes extreme satisfaction watching Bruce cringe and grimace in displeasure. Bruce remains silent and Natasha smirks. "Exactly, I assumed you wanted to do this rather than follow her around."

"Assumption correct." Bruce says leaning back into his chair and nodding his head. "Alright, get on out of here. We'll be here when you get back." Natasha smiles,

"I wouldn't expect you anywhere else."

She turns and leaves without glancing back behind her shoulder. Bruce sighs and gets comfortable because he was going to be there for a while. His attention is immediately brought to the screen when he sees Natasha has already snuck into the building. Now it was all business.

E8E8E8E8E8E8E8E8E8E8E8

Natasha sighed irritated when Bruce's voice came into her ear for the umpteenth time that day complaining, yet again, "I still don't understand why I have to stay in the car? How come you get to do the fun stuff and I get to sit here in a parked car all day?"

"Because _darling_," Natasha stresses resisting the urge to press her fingers into her temples to get rid of the headache waiting to come. "You're still learning. You'll get to do the fun stuff soon, I promise. And by soon, I mean tonight. I'll need you're help. But you need to watch and observe, take notes."

"I cant even see you! Only what you see."

"And that is a lot, better than seeing nothing. Now pay attention! And stop talking to me, I shouldn't be moving my mouth."

Bruce huffed in exasperation, but none of the less stays silent. The target wasn't terribly interesting on the surface. A scientist who conducted studies on students who do just about anything to their brains for money. Sleep studies, brain scars and so on. But on his off time… well, it's always the quiet ones. "Man you think he'd have something better to do. He's running pointless errands." Natasha mutters to herself.

"Who knows, but it's getting late and Steve is getting fussy. We should head back to the house and get ready for dinner."

Natasha smirks. "Your dying to get out of that vehicle aren't you?"

"Me and Steve!" Bruce exclaims.

"Okay, I'll be right there."

E8E8E8E8E8E8E8E8E8E8E8E8

Natasha dressed in Sarah Gordon's clothing- a blue strapless, silk dress and a black cardigan that Natasha would_ never_ actually wear with a pair of black heels. She emerged from the bathroom to see Bruce sporting a collared light blue sweater and tan tailcoat. "We match." She smiled. "But it would make you look better if you," Natasha reached down and grab Bruce's shirt, "untuck it." She said as she slipped Bruce's shirt out of his pants and smoothed it down. Natasha smiled at her work and nodded in approve than looked around the room. "Where's Steve?"

"Playing in his room. I just dressed him in kakis pants with a blue checkered, button up shirt."

Natasha nods, "That's alright. Besides he'll just get himself dirty anyway tonight. Steve isn't exactly what you'd call a neat eater." Bruce smiled and laughed. And at that moment Steve waddled into the room with his little outfit on and a large smile on his face. "Speak of the devil."

"Mama!" Steve exclaimed running up to his parents and throwing his arms around Natasha's legs, his face pressed into her dress.

Natasha smiles and reaches down to cup the back of Steve's head. "Hi, my love."

"Purdy." Steve comments and continuing to bury his head in her dress.

Over the period of time they've been there, Bruce and Natasha noticed that Steve seemed to really like seeing Natasha in dresses. He adored her when she wore a dress and he thought she looked beautiful. Natasha laughs, "Thank you Steve. You look beautiful too."

"No, he looks handsome." Bruce says coming to his son's defense. "He's a boy, not a girl."

Natasha rolls her eyes, "Whatever." She looks down at Steve. "Ready to go Steve?"

Steve nods and reaches out to retrieve his mother's hand before turning and grabbing Bruce's. "Bye- Bye?"

"Yes bye- bye." Bruce nods.

"Go." Steve says tugging on their hands and pulling them towards the door.

"Alright, alright, we're coming. We're coming." Natasha laughs and follows willingly as Steve continues to walk his parents towards the door.

After getting Steve into the car, the trio drove to the restaurant in near silence. Not awkward, but comforting silence. As they parked, Natasha noticed Bruce's determined expression. "What's the prerogative?"

He looked at her for a long moment. "Place a tracker and hearing device on all targets and acquire 24 hours surveillance. Report back to HQ once we get a hit."

Natasha nodded proudly, "Then we have a good dinner. You hungry Steve?" She asks looking back at Steve strapped in his car seat.

Steve nods excitedly. "Very mama!"

"And you remember what to do with Bridget, right?"

Steve nodded, only hesitating for a moment. "Yes mama." Natasha reaches behind her and places the tracker meant to go on Bridget's neck into Steve's coat pocket.

"Don't forget you have to put this on Sam, alright Steve?" Steve just nodded.

"Good, we're ready. Let's go."

Inside, Natasha requested a booth near the back, exactly a table away from William's and Bridget's table. It was a booth by windows and they had perfect view of the entire restaurant. Thankfully, Bridget didn't have her usual bodyguards with them tonight.

The relief on Natasha face must have shown because Bruce leaned forward with an amused smile. "Everything alright?" He asked teasingly.

Natasha shook herself out of her small trance and turned to look up at Bruce who was currently buckling Steve up in his high chair. She offered him a smile and shook her head. "No, the decor here is just fascinating and I'm very tempted to go ask the manager where he got such wonderful stuff." She said with a small wink.

Bruce immediately got the message; the restaurant was clear of security. He smiled lovingly at her, "And I'm going to have to drag you out before you can consider purchasing these things from them yourself." Natasha giggled and opened her menu after helping Steve with his crayons and booklet. She was half paying attention to what was on the menu, but her attention was mostly caught by Bridget as was Bruce's.

Natasha, after several minutes of silence, saw William get up from his seat and go to the bar on the other side of the restaurant. Natasha immediately informs Bruce. "I'm thinking about getting the all-you-can-eat soup and salad or," Natasha makes sure to make eye contact with Bruce as she says her second suggestion, "9'o clock special." She tilts her head to the side and Bruce discreetly glances over his shoulder to find William walking away.

"You can get whatever you want sweetie." Bruce replies calmly as he looks back over at her.

Natasha purses her lips, pretending to ponder over her options. After a minute, she turns to Steve. "What do you think Steve? What should mommy get?"

"Swecial mommy." Steve says beaming up at her, tearing his eyes away from his coloring for the first time since they've arrive.

Natasha giggles and ruffles up Steve's hair. "The prince has spoken." Bruce laughs.

He then leans forward and drops his voice down to a teasing whisper, "How would you like a drink with that special?"

"I'd love one." Natasha says winking at him. Wow, they were actually playing a pretty convincing family this evening. Bruce hasn't slipped up once, nor fidgeted since the evening started. Natasha would have to reward him later that night when they get back to the house. "Something strong, but not to strong, my love. Surprise me." Bruce nodded before walking away, in pursue of Williams.

And that exact moment Bridget and Sam got up and began to head to the bathroom. Natasha thanked whoever was listening to her when she turned at the sound of Steve whimpering, not even a second later. Poor Steve was squirming in his seat and he was frowning, clearly uncomfortable. He reached out and grabbed a hold of Natasha's dress tugging on it even though he already had her attention. "Mama..." Steve winces. "I gotta go."

Natasha stands, unbuckling Steve as fast as she can. "Okay baby, let's go." Pulling Steve out of his high chair, Natasha places him on the ground and grabs his hand. Steve begins waking towards the bathroom immediately, desperately trying to hold it in. It had taken a while, but Bruce and Natasha had him potty trained. Since he was still new at the using toilet, occasionally there was the accident that always happens, but Steve preferred to get to a toilet before that happens. And right now he was trying to run to the bathroom. Natasha followed willingly.

Once inside Natasha spots Bridget standing at the sinks cleaning her son. Sam, from what she can tell, has managed to dirty himself everywhere! Any exposed skin had pieces of spaghetti sauce or whatever pasta Sam had eaten tonight. Natasha smiles smugly when she thought about Steve. He was a messy eater, but not as messy as Sam. He's nothing like Sam who looks like he rolled around in his food.

After Steve used the bathroom quickly, Natasha sighed inwardly in relief when she peeked through the hole in the stall and still saw Bridget standing there. She bent down and looks Steve in the eye. "You know what you have to do right?" She whispers so quietly into his ear that Steve almost didn't hear it. But luckily, thanks to the serum, it sounded crystal clear. He nodded, smart enough to know that he can't be quiet in this state to save his life. Natasha smiled before pecking his cheek and standing up. As soon as she opened the door, Steve sprinted out of the stall and towards Bridget and Sam. "Steve wait! Don't- !"... Steve tumbles into Bridget's legs, causing both him and her to fall to the ground. Natasha would've laughed because when Bridget fell, she fell into a puddle of her water- efficiently soaking the bottom of her dress-, but she held it in for sake of her cover. Instead of laughing, her first initial reaction, she gasp horrified and stalks up to her son 'angrily'. "Aiden Gordon, what have I told you about running!? Look what you did; you knocked over this poor lady!"

Steve looked up at her sheepishly, "I sowwy mama." Steve apologized getting teary eyed, something he had perfect during his time as a child whenever he got into trouble. Now it was an advantage into their little act.

"Don't apologize to me; I'm not the one you knocked over." Natasha ordered.

Steve looked beside him at Bridget who was collecting the stuff that has fallen out of her purse. "I'm sowwy." Steve said beginning to 'weep'.

Bridget stops in her mad rush to pack up all of her stuff at the sound of his crying and looks over at Steve. No mother can ignore the sound of a child's cry. Natasha takes that time to make a mental note of the things going into her purse. "Aww, it's alright sweetie. No one got hurt and I'm fine, I promise." Bridget smiles and reaches out to cup Steve's chin. Natasha can't help, but give a silent wince. She doesn't want anyone to touch her son, especially Hydra. But the minute Natasha's eyes catch a hold of two bottles of pills laying half out of her bag; her attention is taken away from Steve and Bridget. Without reaching down and grabbing them Natasha automatically knows their painkillers and sleeping pills. The bottle and pill sizes give it away and Natasha can identify them a mile away.

'What would she need painkillers and sleeping pills with that big of a dose size for?' Natasha can't help, but think.

She's brought out of her confusion by someone tugging on her dress. She looks down to see Steve looking up at her. "Mama, dunt be mad at me." He said, giving her sly smile behind Bridget's back. It means Steve, throughout his interaction with Bridget, had managed to place the tracker on the back of Bridget's neck. Natasha looked over and confirmed what her son had done because she can see it barely peeking out of the women's dress.

She looks down at him and sighs before picking him up. "I'm not mad, you just have to be more careful, alright?"

"Otay."

"Did you say sorry?"

"Uh- huh."

Natasha looks up at Bridget who had picked herself up from the ground and was brushing herself off. "I'm so sorry about what he did."

Bridget smiled at her sweetly, "That's quite alright. No one was harmed, well… except my dress, but nothing a washer and dryer couldn't fix." Bridget laughs. Natasha had to admit, she had a sense of humor and was genuinely sweet with Steve.

"Well still I feel horrible. Let me pay for the dry cleaning." Natasha says.

Bridget waves off her offer, "No, no that's fine. I've got it, we were just leaving any way. I've got to get this little man in the bath tub tonight." Bridget says picking Sam up and placing him on the ground. "Come on Sam, say goodbye to.. I'm sorry, what's you're name?"

"Sarah and this is my little boy Aiden." Natasha says cuddling Steve closer to her body.

"Ah yes, you're the new neighbors in our neighborhood. I'm Bridget and this is my son Sam."

"It's wonderful to meet you." Natasha says lying straight through her white, pearly teeth.

"You as well, maybe we can hang out some time. Have a play date so the boys can hang out." Bridget suggests.

"Yes that sounds like a good idea." Natasha says smiling large because this meant that there is a possibility she and Steve might be entering the Hydra house soon.

Bridget smiles at Natasha, "I'll talk to you later, it's time to go. Come on Sam." Bridget has to tug gently on Sam's arm in order to get him to move. "Bye."

"Bye Bridget, bye Sam."

Sam waves bye as he and his mother exit the girl's bathroom. Natasha looks at Steve immediately, "Did you get Sam too?"

Steve nods, "Uh- huh. Da both of dem!" He says excitedly.

"Way to go Steve, that's my boy." Natasha kisses Steve's cheek before putting him down. "Let's go with daddy, finish diner then we'll go home. Okay?"

"Otay momma."

After quickly washing his hands, Steve grabbed Natasha's hand before pulling her out of the bathroom.


	8. Chapter 8

Natasha, Steve and Bruce wasted no time in throwing their stuff down and heading towards her laptop the minute they got home. The tracker was immediately put into effect once it attached to Bridget's, William's and Sam's skin.

Natasha started typing furiously and Bruce was shrugging Steve out of his coat while also putting all his attention on the screen. After a minute or two Natasha pressed the enter button and the screen came alive with video feed. There was static at first with the audio, but it soon cleared up and they could hear voices clearly.

"Did you talk to anyone?" A man's voice asks. William, Natasha assumes. As of now, all Natasha and Bruce can see is the street lights as they drive coming in and out of view. But the voices were as clear as a crystal.

Bridget voice answers a minute later timidly, "No." Natasha raises an eyebrow at Bruce and he just shrugs. Why did Bridget sound so scared?

"You better not be lying to me." William threatens in a low voice. A small wince can be heard from Bridget and the video shook back and forth in a shaking motion. "Good. Did you see if SHIELD was following us?"

"No." Bridget answers immediately.

"Mama?" Sam's voice is heard from the back. When Bridget turns to face him, Natasha and Bruce can barely make out Sam's silhouette in the darkness, but they know it's him.

Steve perks up at the sound of Sam's voice and tugs on Natasha's dress. Natasha tears her eyes away from the feed to look down at Steve. He reaches his arms up to her and Natasha picks him up, placing him on her lap. "That's Sam." The two year old says matter of factly as he watches the feed along with his parents.

"Sash baby mama's talking to William."

Natasha makes an immediate mental note of how Bridget referred to William when speaking to Sam. When speaking to Steve, Natasha always refers to Bruce as daddy when they takes about him. Just like Bruce always said mommy. They even say it to each other to tease the other or mainly because it turns them on. The way Bridget said William made Natasha wonder if William was even Sam's father.

"But I'm bored."

There's shuffling in the background before a hand reaches over and hands Sam a phone. "There kid, now shut up and don't break it." Sam takes the phone warily before looking over at his mother.

"Say thank you."

Sam gulps and speaks in a small voice, "Thank you Mr. Schmidt."

The minute William's last name is spoken, Steve's body freezes in terror and his eyes widen as his mouth jaw. Natasha and Bruce immediately look down at their son in concern. Steve reaction was sudden and immediate that it alarmed Natasha and Bruce. But what really worried them were the tears beginning to leak down his face. "Steve what's wrong?" Bruce asks. Natasha's arms tighten around him in a protective way. Steve doesn't reply, he just continues to stare at the laptop screen in silent terror. "What's wrong buddy? Talk to us, tell us what's wrong?" Natasha and Bruce were getting antsy.

"Sweetie talk to mommy and daddy."

...

"Turn off." Steve only says before jumping out of Natasha's lap and running upstairs as fast as his little legs can carry him.

"Steve wait!" Bruce rushes after him and Natasha does what Steve asks before trailing behind Bruce. When they reach the top of the stairs they see Steve run into their bedroom and close the door behind him. They run up to the door, but stop short when they see light emitting from the room. Bruce stops Natasha before she can open the door. "He's changing back, we'll hurt our eyes of we open the door. Wait." Natasha sighed irritated, but listens and waits for the light top go away. But the minute the light diminishes, nothing is going to stop her from getting to her baby.

And true to her word, when Natasha saw the lights go away, she yanked the door open and ran inside without giving Steve any time to get dressed after being reverted back to his old form. But she didn't care and neither did he. She's seen him naked countless of times and this was no different.

Steve was pulling on boxers when she found him in the corner of the room, his back turned to her, but she could tell by the sag of his shoulders that he was upset. She watched him for a moment, Bruce walking in sometime during that minute, and saw his shoulders deflate even more with a shaky sigh. Steve didn't turn around when he grabbed a pair of pants and pulled them on, continuing to keep his attention on the wall in front of him.

Natasha tentatively took a step in his direction, worry plastered all over her face. Her baby was distressed and she wanted to do something to make him feel better. She had to. "Steve…" She called softly. Steve tensed, his only acknowledgement that he heard her. He doesn't reply and Natasha knew he wouldn't. So, with newfound confidence, she walked up to him after giving Bruce a look. She places a hand on his shoulder and as soon as her hand touches his shoulder, Steve turns around and immediately buries Natasha's small form in his. He places his head in her shoulder and closes his eyes tightly, trying desperately to hold tears in. Steve, because of his height, had to bend down to place his head onto his mother's shoulder, but it didn't seem to bother him since he was in a high state of anguish. The sadness and suffering was practically radiating off his body and the pain was evident in his eyes.

Motherly instincts take over and Natasha guides her and Steve over to her bed. She sits down and pulls Steve onto her lap, even though the man weighted twice more than her and was double her size. Still, Steve curled into his mother's body as if he was a small child which he was a few minutes ago and cried rested his head on her chest. Nothing more, nothing less. He continued to stay silent and only just watched as Bruce walked around the room gathered the ripped, discard clothes of baby Steve.

Natasha wrapped an arm around his body and used her free one to brush his hair from his face. Her voice pulled Steve out of his thoughts, "Steve…" She spoke softly to him, her voice a gentle soothing sound. "What's wrong? What happened?" Steve didn't reply, but he did curl further into Natasha's body. Bruce walked over and knelt in front of them, a hand coming to rest on Steve's shoulder. Steve tensed instantly, but once he realized it was only Bruce he calmed down and reached out blindly to retrieve his father's hand. Bruce took it without a word. Natasha sighed and kissed Steve's forehead softly, "Поговори со мной. Поговорите с папой. (Talk to me. Talk to daddy.)" Natasha whispered cradling Steve to her body.

Despite not knowing what Natasha was muttering to Steve, Bruce joined in and hoped that what he was saying corresponding to what Natasha had just said. "Buddy, what did the video say that got you so upset? Was the video or us? Did we say or do something wrong?"

There was no response from Steve for a while, but after a couple minutes Steve shook his head. "… I-It wasn't you." He whispers.

"Then why are you silent? Why aren't you telling us what's wrong?"

Steve sighed, turning to hide his face in Natasha's shoulder, an arm wrapping around his mother's arm. He took a deep breath, taking deep satisfaction in the familiar sweet scent of his mother's perfume and shampoo. Honey and cinnamon. This is the scent that always helps him when he's so upset. He closes his eyes and lets it out for a few more minutes until Steve's completely certain he's not going to break down. He takes his head out of Natasha's shoulder and peers up at her sheepishly. "I know who William is…" Steve states blankly. "That's why he looked so familiar to me." Steve said. That's a first because Steve never once said that William looked familiar to anyone. He kept it to himself.

Natasha shares a glance with Bruce before looking back at Steve. "What?"

"I know who William is. SHIELD doesn't, but I do."

"How could you possibly know who William is? His identity is a secret; no one knows who he really is." Bruce asks confused.

Steve takes a moment to collect himself before he straightens up in Natasha's lap and stares down at his parents… "Because I fought with him… back in 1945. I killed him just minutes before I landed in the ice and he's the reason I ended up here."

…

"What?" Natasha and Bruce expressed their horrors through that one little word. Their mouths dropped, eyes widen and they just stared at Steve as he continued to stare down at his hands in his lap.

He stayed silent as a memories wash over him. Memories of the people he had lost all because of this one man. This one man that caused him to crash land in a frozen waste land and freeze over for 70 years. Peggy, Bucky, Coronel Phillips, The howling commandos… Everyone.

Suddenly the room felt like a cage and he felt trapped. The once warm and comforting arms of Natasha now felt like a steel caged trap. And he panicked. The flashbacks and memories that plagued him in his sleep now rush through is mind as he tries with all his might to scrambling out of his mother's arms. But Natasha holds tight. Steve's breathing becomes rapid and harsh and he growls, "Let me go."

The tone of his voice surprised Natasha enough that she let her grip loosen for a second. But it was enough for Steve to slip out and walk out the door. After getting over the initial shock of what just happened, Natasha quickly jumped off the bed and Bruce stood. They glanced at each other and Bruce raised an eyebrow, "You or me?"

Natasha looks out the door and with a reluctant sigh she frowns. "Neither. Let's just… let him cool down." She turns to Bruce and he opens his arms when he sees the sadness in her eyes. Natasha walks into them willingly and Bruce snuggly wraps her into his body. He sighs and rests his chin on top of her head. "He's hurting." She whispers softly resting her head over Bruce's heart.

Bruce sighs and maneuvers himself and Natasha to sit on the edge of their bed. "I know." He kisses her forehead before pulling away to look at her. "But we'll help him through this. Now that we know who's running this operation, we're one step ahead of them. They don't know we know about them and now that we have Steve, who's been on the inside of Hydra's plans more than once, I think… now that we have this knowledge we can go home quicker than originally planned."

Natasha glances up at Bruce through her eyelashes, "You think so?"

"I know so." Bruce places a chaste kiss on Natasha's lips before pulling away and smiling at her. "How long should we give Steve?"

"An hour… maybe two. I just need him to have a clear head and he has to know that we're there for him. I saw the way he was looking at the room when he got out of my arms. He looked scared… and I could tell he felt trapped. Maybe a few hours outside should clear his mind. Because I vaguely remember feeling that way long ago. I don't want to have him think we're hounding him."

"Should we call SHIELD?" Bruce asked.

"I'll do it."

Bruce nods, "I'm going to take a quick shower." He informs before removing his arms from Natasha's body. She nods and watches as Bruce begins to undress himself on the way to the bathroom. When the door closes behind him, she stands and grabs her phone from her back pocket. But a 'thud' from downstairs catches her attention. Her head snaps up and she stares at the open bedroom door. "Steve?" she calls putting her phone back. "Is that you?" She doesn't get an answer. Motherly instincts take over when Steve doesn't reply. He doesn't matter if he's upset, he'll always reply to assure his mother that he's alright.

Without hesitation, she walks out and started down the hallway checking Steve's nursery, just in case he was there, but he wasn't. So she proceeds to go downstairs. She's about to walk into the living room, but stops short when suddenly something sliver flashes across her peripherals. She doesn't hesitate before leaning down and grabbing a hold of her gun in her thigh holster. But unfortunately, she doesn't get very far.

"Don't!" Someone shouts and a bullet in clicked in place. Natasha freezes in her half bent down position, refusing to move as her fingers run loosing over her gun's handle. "Pull out the gun and he dies." They threaten in a cold voice.

Natasha chances a glance up and her eyes widen in shock when she sees an unconscious Steve laying at the ground in front of her, a gun barrel placed directly on his temple. "Steve…" She whispers softly.


	9. Chapter 9

Her first instinct is to grab her gun and shoot every single man surrounding her and her son, but it's the gun pointed at Steve's head that prevents her from doing so.

Instead, she unwillingly lets go of her gun and stands from her spot, her hand discreetly coming to rest on the small of her back. Just above the hidden taser. She gave the person right next to her an angered look. "Get that gun away from my son." She threatens in a dark voice that would make anyone cringe, glaring at everyone around her.

The guy laughs at her before roughly grabbing her arm and slamming her down on the floor. A mistake on their part. Because when Natasha fell forward, she knocked over a small side table and a lamp toppled over, breaking when it hit the floor. The shattering of the light bulb created a loud noise when it hit the ground, loud enough that it echoed throughout the house. Natasha's head lifted up and she smirked at the broken glass. Bruce definitely heard that, it was _loud_!

She waited a minute and counted down the seconds. When she counted up to 8, Bruce's voice flittered down the stairs. "Is everything okay?"

Natasha opens her mouth to answer, but the gun diggers deeper into Steve's skin that she winces uncomfortably and another one is pointed at her. Luckily he's unconscious, she prays that he stays that way. It was meant to be a warning; 'Tell him we're here and both of you die.' She sighs and pretends to look scare, but really she's just smirking on the inside. "Yes _dear," _she starts, "everything is just… _fine."_

The shower upstairs turns off and Bruce's heavy footsteps echo in the bedroom. "Alright." He says sounding nonchalant.

"Oh and Caleb… it seems Aiden had a little accident. We might need more diapers." Code for: Something's wrong, act like our cover. Call SHIELD immediately.

The shuffling upstairs stops for a moment as Bruce takes in what she said. His voice replies back a minute later, "Okay, I'll go order in now. What else do we need?" Code for: I'm calling. How much danger are you in?

"A lot." And that's all that said before Natasha goes into complete darkness.

.

.

Natasha wakes to a dull throbbing in her head.

"Ugh…" She complained sitting upright, a hand coming to rest on her head. Only when she touched her temple, she felt something wet and sticky. Pulling away she sees her hand covered bathed in blood. "Shit."

Putting it down on the floor, she looks up and around her. Natasha sat up awkwardly from where she was. Using her tied hands, she props herself up on the cold, wet cemented floor. She blinked groggily, and weakly pulled at the ropes. 'Thin material. Leather. Should be easy.' Natasha thinks skillfully leaning forward and hitching her dress up to retrieve her knife. But she's left grasping at just pure skin.

Her knives and gun had been removed. One look at her wrist also confirmed that her widow bites have also been confiscated.

She frowns and sighs before shaking her dress back in place. Using her tied hands she feels around the space she's in, her hands being her eyes for the time being. As she feels, she realizes that she's in some sort of cell. 3 of the walls were pure cement while the fourth were bars. And as she neared them, a dim light could be detected from far. 'It's emitting from another room', Natasha thinks as she grabs the bars and hoist herself to a standing position. But as she stood, she felt an object poking her in the back and neck.

She strained her neck to see what it was, but to no avail and her tied hands prevented her from feeling what it was. She glanced down the corridor, or what she assumed was some sort of hallway, and squinted to make out the figures roaming down them. But she silently sighed in aggravation. It was too damn dark to see anything!

Just as she was about to slam on the bars to gather the guards attention, a whimper from behind catches her attention. A familiar whimper.

Mother instincts take over and she desperately searches for the source of the sound. Apparently the guards out in the hallway heard it too because footsteps make their way towards her. Natasha moves away from the bars and into the pitch black darkness just as one comes into view. She holds her breath and her body tenses immediately watching as the guard takes one long look in before speaking quietly to the other. Now at a closer look, she sees its two guards who had made their way towards her. Her eyes flicker to the two guns in their hands and remains silent knowing that she says anything, they'll know she had awoken and there is no going back after that. She prays silently that the whimper isn't followed by a second as the guard continues his investigation. So far it hasn't, but Natasha knows that it won't last long before it happens again.

With one nod from the other guard, they both walk away as if nothing happened. Natasha waits a moment before sighing in relief and begins to tear through the darkness in search of the source that made the whimpering sound moments before.

She debates on whether she should call out his name. A mistake on her part if she does, but the dark was seriously irritating her. '_Cant they put some electricity in this damn place?'_ she thought to herself annoyed. Finally, fed up, she gives up and whispers softly, "Steve?... Steve?... Baby are you here?" Her voice had soften and a triumphant smile crosses her face when her foot makes contact with something warm and solid followed by a moan.

Natasha drops down immediately, her hands reaching out to grab the first thing she can. A hand.

Steve's hand.

A sigh escaped her lips as she leant forward to grasp his other hand. "Steve..." She whispers directly to him. His body tenses immediately and she's quick to reassure him, searching him quickly to find his face. "Hey, it's okay. It's just me." She whispers soothing, her warm hands caressing his cold face. A hand rises a minute later to cover Natasha's.

"Mom?" A voice whispers back.

"Yeah, I'm right here sweetheart." Natasha smiles down at him, or where she assumes his head is, due to the lack of the light.

Steve hesitates for a second before asking, "Dad?" Natasha's eyes widen. 'Bruce! Shit, shit, shit!' Mentally panicking inside, Natasha has to make sure to keep her voice calm and collected. There's no need to panic Steve when she doesn't even know where the hell Bruce is. As far as she knows, he could be safe and with SHIELD trying to find out where the hell they are. Where the hell are they anyway?

Natasha looks forward the cell bars. 'It has to be Hydra,' she assumes, 'who else would steal the Black Widow and Captain America and not kill them? They want the serum running through our veins.' The mere thought of them putting their hands on Steve and draining his blood makes her shiver. But right now she can't think of that. Her and Steve need a clear head so they try to devise a plan to escape. If only they can actually SEE! It would make their plan of attack so much easier.

Natasha sighed and turned her attention to Steve, "Can you stand?" She whispers.

After some shuffling, she can feel Steve's head nod under her hand. "Y-Yeah. Ugh… my head." Steve grabs Natasha's hand from his face and uses it as leverage to get him to his knees. "You okay?" He asks, his voice a lot stronger then when she first found him.

"Yeah I'm fine. Just a little sore on my side. You?"

"Fine." Steve stands with Natasha's help and looks around before frowning. "Why is it so damn dark?" He grunted walking towards the cell bars. Just as Natasha and Steve neared the bars, they could make out people speaking near their cell.

When they're voices become clear, Steve reaches a hand in front of Natasha stopping her in her tracks. They both stay silent and inch closer to listen in on the conversation. "

"What are we supposed to do with them?" One guard asks.

"I don't know. Boss just said to take them to him once they wake up." Another replied sounding bored.

"Can't we play with them for a little bit before taking em? Because I have a few moves I know the red head will like."

Natasha can barely hear the low growl emit from Steve, but she knows he's pissed. Her on the other hand, all she feels is disgust. She shakes her head disgusted, but leans forward with an amused smile when she hears someone smack the guard. "Idiot, she's one of _them_," another reminds him, emphasizing the last word. "Besides the lady can fight, you'd be dead before you can lay a finger on her. We barely had any men left after the last interaction with the Avengers. Most of their deaths at her's and the archer's hand. Boss said we couldn't afford losing any more."

"What about the other one? Can't I at least play with her?"

Both Natasha's and Steve's ears perk up and they walk as close as they dare to the bars, staying out of the guard's view, but enough to actually see the outline of their figures in the poorly lit corridor. 'Her? What other one?' They asked themselves. "I don't care. Just don't leave a mark and make sure she can perform." The other replied nonchalantly. Natasha strained her neck to see what was happening.

The horny guard had moved from his spot and was coming to the cell next to Steve's and Natasha's. They both jumped back silently so they're not seen, but they can hear the cell door next to them squeak open, the sound making them cringe. A woman's voice speaks up immediately, fear evident in her tone. "D-Does he need me?"

Natasha frowns... that voice...It's very familiar. She's heard it before, more than once actually. From the look on Steve's face, she knows he knows the voice too, just not who it belongs to. "No."

"Where's my son? I want my son."

"Your in no position to be making demands Bridget. Especially when it pertains to your son." The SHIELD agents' eyes couldn't have gotten any bigger then they were at that moment. They're bodies frozen and it was as if all the wind had been knocked out of their lungs.

Bridget… The cell next to them holds Bridget!

Steve and Natasha glance at each other before silently walking over to the wall and pressing themselves against the wall. They could hear their voices as clear as if they were standing in the same room as them. So Bridget wasn't a part of the plan… she and her son weren't a part of Hydra.

They're prisoners.

If Bridget was there and her son wasn't with her, where's Sam? 2 year old poor little innocent Sam, where is he? Natasha's parental instincts take over and she's suddenly protective. Of Sam and Steve, even if he may not be a toddler at the moment. "I want my son." She pleads.

"Oh yeah," they hear the guard's footsteps walk further into the room, echoing into the hallway. A second later, Bridget's whimpers softly and at that moment Natasha wishes the wall wasn't there so she can see what he's doing to her. Her body tenses when suddenly Bridget lets out a pained cry after the clear sound of a whip hitting skin echoes very loudly. "Well I want you." He whispers softly before all conversation stop.

"Horny ass, mofo." The guard waiting outside mutters to himself as Bridget begins to cry.

"Stop, no… please stop. Don't touch me!"

A sound that can only be him slapping her comes after before she becomes silent and only continues to cry. Natasha can see Steve's face from the poorly dim light and she knows that he's going to say something. To get his attention off of Bridget and onto him. But that would put them in a poor predicament, especially with being outnumbered, out gunned and with no light. She grabs onto Steve's bicep and forces him to turn away from the wall and look at her. She shakes her head once giving him a stern look. He pleads with his eyes, but Natasha is relentless. She's sorry for Bridget. But right now her main concern is escaping. Along the way, Bridget and Sam will be both Steve's and her concern.

She raises an eyebrow up at Steve asking with her eyes, 'What should we do?'

Steve sighs and looks around the room. "First we have to get some damn light in this cell. Search for the floor or walls for something we could use. A phone, flashlight and keep it pointed away from the cells. We don't need them seeing it."

It took a while and a lot of searching, but finally Steve was able to find a lamp in the corner of the cell. He lit it up, but only enough for Natasha and him to actually see each other's faces and where they step. It made Natasha calm down immensely now that she has all of her senses back. But all the panic came back when she sees Steve's heavily bleeding temple. Her eyes widen and she reaches a hand up to cup Steve's cheek. "Shit Steve." She whispers shocked.

He shrugs off her concern, "I'm fine."

"You're not fine!" She grabs onto his arm and forces him to sit back down. Ripping off the bottom part of her dress, she turns to Steve's wound and presses a finger lightly into it. "What happened? How did they get into the house?" she asked as she dabbed it lightly.

Steve shrugged, "After I stormed out of the room I came downstairs and saw the door open. I got defensive immediately, but before I could do anything I was knocked unconscious. I guess they snuck up behind me. They were as stealthy as you I didn't see them coming."

"Steve it looks horrible." Natasha mutters after finally realizing that just dabbing isn't just going to work. Sighing, she just grabs the end and wraps it tightly around Steve's head, tying it behind his head to keep the wound wrapped and safe. "Now that you'll all patched and good, what's the plan Cap? Do we just wait for SHIELD or attempt to get out of here ourselves?"

Steve frowns and runs a hand over his face before sighing. Before he can reply, Bridget's pained scream pierces through the air reminding the two sitting on the floor what's transpiring next door. Steve closes his eyes tightly before leaning forward and resting his head in Natasha's lap. Natasha cringes with every new scream and tries to distract herself with running a hand through his hair. "I cant… think right now. Not with that happening."

"I know…" She leans forward and presses her lips to Steve's forehead. "I know. It's alright. It's going to be alright… I hope."

Natasha looks up through the cell doors and sighs sadly. She's getting extremely anxious. To her relief, at least she has her son with her, but… where's Bruce?

.

.

Footsteps echo loudly through the halls as he stalks down angrily being flanked by his team who share his anger. SHIELD agents scurry out of the wall in hopes of not getting caught in any of the Avenger's anger. It will not be good, especially with the way they look right now and how they're footsteps fall in sync subconsciously. They looked determined and if anything got in their way, they'd pay hell for doing it.

The scared agents watched as Bruce, Tony, Clint and Thor stalked down the corridor towards Director Fury's office. Without warning or any word, they yank open the door and walk in on Fury in a serious discussion with Maria and Coulson. Fury leans back in his chair fully expecting the chaos about to happen. The Avengers stay planted in the doorway glaring at him except for Bruce who walks further in, passing the deputy directors without a second glance, and up to Fury's desk. He slams a hand down in front of Fury and growls, "Where's my 'wife' and 'son'?"


	10. Chapter 10

Fury sighs before leaning back in his chair, unfazed by Banner's attitude. He stares humorlessly up at Banner before grabbing the remote in front of him and turning his chair around. He points it at a blank wall and a surveillance feed automatically appears. On the screen it showed the inside of Sarah's and Caleb's house with the door already wide open.

"Someone had hacked into our system and deleted the last 5 minutes of feed. When Stark was able to get it back, this is what we found."

Bruce ignores the director as he watches what transpires on the screen. After a minute or two, Bruce can clearly see Steve descending the stairs. His facial expression gives away his distress. Not even a moment after he touches the ground, he's grabbed from behind and forced to his knees. Immediately, his emotions are pushed to the side and his eyes harden. He reacts instantly with precise movement. In less than a minute, the three people holding him down were on the floor groaning in pain. Before he could deliver the final death blow, more come at him and give him no time to react. More than couples have managed to bring him down and that's when Bruce sees him.

William. Or better yet, Johann.

He walked through the front door casually, his suit still on from dinner. He carries a cigar in his hands and nonchalantly walks up to Steve. Steve tries to struggle against them, but suddenly he's held at gunpoint. He freezes when the barrel of a MP40 pistol. The cold metal presses against his temple and he slowly raises his eye to meet Johann's eyes. Johann smirks at him. Steve doesn't react.

"It's been a while Captain. 75 years to be exact." Johann spoke, walking closer.

Steve growls, "What do you want Schmidt?"

"I think you know exactly what I want."

"They'll find you." Steve hisses through his teeth. "If you take me, SHIELD will find you."

Schmidt laughs softly, his voice near a whisper. "I have no doubt they won't, but I'm not worried. We're ready this time. All I need to do is grab that beautiful mother of yours and I wont worry."

"Don't you dare touch Natasha!" Steve growls, pull against his restraints. "The Avengers can function fine without either of us, so taking her wont do anything."

"Oh I know, but did you not hear Captain? Natalia has the same exact serum running through her own body. Of course it's not the same as yours, but it'll do." Schmidt smirked. "Besides it might be fun to play with her for a little."

Rage flashes in his eyes and Steve has just managed to slip one arm out of his restraints. He reaches over and grabs a hold of Schmidt's collar. "You listen and you listen good." When the guards reach to pull Steve's arm back behind his back again, Schmidt waves them off. "You can do whatever you want to me. Hurt me, or kill me. Whatever. But don't touch my mother."

William sticks his bottom lip out in a mock pout, "Oh it's sweet. But unfortunately Captain," Schmidt looks to the guard right next to him and nods once. "You'll be too unconscious to object."

Then a guard brings the butt of his gun onto Steve's temple knocking him unconscious. Two minutes later, Natasha walks downstairs.

Bruce- not being able to see another minute of this- turns to Fury, "Turn it off." He demands harshly. "Now." Fury picks up a controller and turns it off. "Where are they?"

"That's the problem, we don't know. We searched their house and found it empty by the time we got there." Coulson replied standing. "They left no traces, and all we're going on right now is sheer luck. We've sent out 5 groups of agents to track their whereabouts, see if they find anything. If we get a hit, they'll let us know immediately and a rescue group will be sent out."

"But that could take too long!" Bruce stressed stepping closer to Coulson. "They could be draining them of their blood at this very moment and we wouldn't even know."

"I doubt that Dr. Banner," Maria intercepted. "If they were to cause Cap or Agent Romanoff any harm, they'd want to do it live for us and the entire world to see. To make everyone fear them and to make them stronger by making you weaker. They know how close relations you are to them and they'd want to hurt you terribly by having you watch them die, one by one. It's the only way to gain control."

Tony places a hand on Bruce's shoulder as he stepped up beside the scientist. "What are we supposed to do? Sit around and wait."

"For now." Fury nodded. "There's not much we can do. Trust us when we say we're extremely worried about Steve's and Natasha's safety. But the only way to save them is to stay quiet and out of Hydra's way. We'll let them think they have the upper hand for a little bit, it will keep out Natasha and Steve out of harms way." If Fury's message wasn't comforting enough, the wink he sends the Avengers made they all glance at each other with smiles. SHIELD has a plan to get their two best assets back, but with a leak in their system they cant afford to have it out in the open. Right now, it's safe between Fury, Coulson and Maria. And the Avengers are fine with it, as long as they get their teammates back.

.

**With Steve and Natasha…**

.

It seemed like forever before the screaming finally stopped and it was finally silent in the corridor. Somewhere between the awful screaming and the fatigue that Natasha felt since waking up, both her and Steve fell asleep.

She jolted awake when the screaming came to an end and when she took a good look around, she remembered where she was. The cell has brightened heavily since the last time her eyes were open, but it was still a little difficult to see. But it was remotely better than before. Yawning silently, Natasha shifted a little, but stopped instantly when she felt Steve stir in her lap. Her body froze and she glanced down to see Steve slumbering peacefully in her lap. She didn't have the heart to wake him, but they needed to find a way to get out of there. Who knows if SHIELD is even on their way to get them? Right now, until they can get to a phone, it was all on them.

With a reluctant sigh, Natasha roused Steve. She shook his shoulder lightly as she leaned down and kissed his forehead. "Steve… baby, wake up." She whispered into his ear. Steve's eyes lids fluttered slightly before barely opening. He gazed up at Natasha sleepily, but when he stretched out, his fingertips hitting the cold cemented surface, he began to panic. "Mom?" He whispers.

"I'm here." Natasha assured, caressing his cheek. "The screaming stopped."

Steve perks up instantly, sitting up in Natasha's lap as he sees for himself. Sure enough, the screaming has stopped. But if the screaming is gone, then where's Bridget? What about Sam? Steve opened his mouth to say something, but shuts it when the familiar voice of the horny guard speaks, "Whiny little bitch."

"You didn't kill her, did you?"

"'Course not, boss would have my head if I did."

"He'd have your head regardless if he found out what you're doing to his girl toy. He made it perfectly clear that she is only his." The one guard warns with an amused edge to his tone.

The horny one replies, "How is he going to find out if I don't say anything? And Bridget to way too smart to say anything."

"Whatever, go check on the other two. He's growing impatient."

Natasha felt her blood go cold. She glanced down at Steve worriedly, but he had already closed his eyes and evened out his breathing. "Stay still and pretend to sleep." He orders quietly. Natasha does, just that. She pushes Steve off her lap and goes to her previous position when she first woke up. Laying fast down, hair covering her face. She closes her eyes and evens out her breathing the minute the guard's footsteps approach their cell.

Her heart is beating fast, but she's worried. But not for herself, for Steve. She can handle herself, but if Steve's temple continues to bleed as heavily as it is now, they wont make it out on their own. They'd need to leave now before Steve loses too much blood and he cant move on his own.

When she sure the guard's footsteps had walked away from the cell, she opens her eyes and rushes to Steve's side. "He's gone." She whispers in his ear. His eyes open immediately and he sits up.

"Good, I have a plan." He whispers. "But… you're not going to like it. And frankly neither am I."

Natasha raises an eyebrow, "I don't care if I like it or not. If it means getting us out of here, then I'm all for it."

Steve sighs, "Alright, here's what you have to do…"

.

**An Hour Later…**

.

Natasha purposely lets out a loud groan, as she lies on the ground. The sound echoes throughout the cell and corridor catching the guards' attention. "Did you hear that?" They asked each other causing Natasha to smirk. She lets out another one, her head resting on the cold ground floor pretending to just be waking up.

Footsteps quickly scurry to their cell and Natasha picks up her head slowly the minute they step into view. She squints her eyes at them, "W-where am I?"

The guard who Natasha assumes raped Bridget smirks at her as his eyes travel along her body. '_Yep, definitely this one.'_ She thought to herself. "Don't worry about a thing Ms. Romanoff. You're safe… for now." The other smirks at her. "Is the man awake?"

The horny one opens the cell and walks over to Steve. Natasha forces herself to stay calm and cool as the guard carelessly kicks Steve's limp body. Steve doesn't budge. Natasha growls, "Don't touch him!" She says in a menacing voice and goes to get up, but the guard near her steps on her back to keep her from moving. "Leave my son alone you bastard!"

"Son?" The horny one asks mockingly. "You must've been a really young mother with you're son being 96 years and all."

Natasha rolled her eyes inwardly, but continued to glare at him. Suddenly her glare into a seductively smile. "Hey soldier," she said in a giggly voice catching both guards off guard. The one pinning her down loosens his foot and Natasha uses that time to sit up. But she doesn't dare move anywhere, she just sits there and smiles, her eyes filled with 'lust', at the guard by Steve. "I don't know if I remember correctly," Natasha continued as she used a finger to twirl a red curl and bit her lip. "But I think I vaguely think I heard you say that you wanted to play with me? Show me a few moves that I may like. I mean I don't know, I was barely waking up, and my head hurt like hell when I started to stand that I fell unconscious again. So I cant remember, do you?"

Both guards' mouths fell open in shock. Natasha smirked inwardly and she's pretty sure that she saw the corner of Steve's mouth twitch. She had to keep herself from laughing or cringing in disgust when an evil smile spread across the man's face. "You were right." He said excitedly walking up to her.

Natasha rose an eyebrow up at him, leaning forward and purposely showing off her cleavage from her dress. "Well then, why don't you show me? I'd love to see what you got."

The other guard rolled his eyes, "I don't believe this. This is probably some sort of trick."

"It's no trick." Natasha purred reaching up and grabbing the guard's collar. She yanks him down to the floor besides her, "And I can prove it." She quickly prayed Bruce would forgive her for this, before slamming her mouth onto of the guard's. He lost his balance and fell to the ground, Natasha following him as she leaned over his body. The guard happily kissed her back sloppily. Natasha forced herself again not to cringe, he was a wet kisser. Those were the worst.

The other guard huffed annoyed, "Whatever. Screw her, I'm going back to actually doing my job so I don't get fired. You can do whatever you're dumb ass wants to do." Natasha continues to kiss the guard until she's certain the other guard is out of ear shot and his footsteps were far away. She smirked and removed her lips from the guards. The guard trailed kisses along her neck as her hands traced the outline of his suit. He thought she was looking for the zipper, but he was mistaken and he realized his mistake when he felt the barrel of a gun press against his temple. He froze. The guard barely looked up at Natasha for a second before the trigger was pulled. He slumped dead underneath Natasha.

She smirked at him as she blew on the edge of the gun. "What was that?" The other one asked. Natasha could tell his footsteps were getting closer so she stood and pointed at the closed cell doors waiting. The guard had only stepped into view before getting a bullet directly towards his eyes. She sighed and turned to find Steve already removing the guard's suit. He tosses her a set of keys, "Grab the other one." He orders placing the suit on himself.

Natasha quickly unlocked the cell doors and dragged the dead man inside. She closed the cell and dragged him towards the black part of the cell where she quickly undressed him and placed the suit on herself. It was large, obviously not made for her size, but it was something. When she emerged from the darkness, clad in the suit and weapons secured on her belt, she found Steve standing waiting for her at the entrance. He tossed her one of the large rifle both men were carrying and with a quick nod, they both walked out of the cell and into the hallway.

Natasha froze when she saw what kind of building she was in. It didn't look familiar to Steve, but it did to Natasha. It made her blood run cold and her eyes blaze with rage. Steve notices her change in demeanor immediately. "What is it?" he whispers.

"Hydra's not working alone." She whispers back after a pause. Steve could tell she was seething in anger.

He stands in front of her and grips her shoulder, "What do you mean? How do you know Hydra isn't working alone?"

"Because I know this building." She replies, her eyes landing on Steve's face. Her face turns into a scowl and she grits her teeth.

"How do you know it?" Steve prompts. Natasha doesn't reply immediately, she only continues to scowl past Steve's shoulder. "Natasha!" Steve urgently whispers, "How do you know this building?"

With a sigh, Natasha looks directly into Steve's eyes. "Because… this is the place where I was taken when I was five years old, the day my parents died. This is the place where I got the serum injected in me and where I became the Black Widow."

Steve sucks in a breath as his eyes widen…

"Red Room?" He whispers more to himself then Natasha, but still Natasha nods anyway agreeing.

"Red Room."


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry for the LONG wait for this chapter! Same old, same old you hear from every author who takes forever to update. Busy. No time for writing. School. Personal Stuff. Life in general. But I don't make a habit to continue this! (: Winter Break is next week and I plan to update again soon. Thanks again for the waiting, you're all sooo amazing!**

* * *

Natasha and Steve wandered through the identical hallways that seem to be never ending with each new turn. They keep their weapons held high up, their bodies tense and ridge. Nothing is said between the two, but then again nothing needs to be said, as they try to find a way out of Hydra's building. It's unknown to them how much time they have before any one notices their disappearance. Considering no alarm has sounded as of yet, it can be safe to say that they have a few minutes before anyone comes looking for them.

Natasha glances up at Steve speaking silently with her eyes as she nods her head once towards a door on their left. With one nod from him, they slip in quickly and lock the door behind them. "Wow," Natasha whispers under her breath catching Steve's attention instantly. He turns around to see what has the spy's attention, but even he's taken back by the sight in front of him.

Surrounding them at the moment was large computers and data bases filled with information. But it wasn't the information that interested the SHIELD agents; it was the type of computer staring at them. Large computers, operated by ancient machinery, began to spring to life making Steve and Natasha take a step back in shock. Steve easily recognized the type of technology staring at him. It was from his early days, before he was trapped in the ice. Seeing it now only brought back so many memories, whereas Natasha saw just junk that was outdated and useless. That was until she saw a new USB plug in sitting at the table waiting to be used.

A beep from the inside of her dress catches the agents' attention taking Steve out of his small trance. Reaching down Natasha hiked up her dress mid-thigh to reveal a flesh colored chip attached to her ankle. She disengaged it from her thigh and brought it up to her face. "What is it?" Steve asked taking a few steps closer to her.

"This cant be." She muttered to herself.

"What?" Steve asked sternly looking over her shoulder.

"This is where Hydra's main source of energy comes from." She whispers looking back up at the technology around her. She takes a step forward towards the large computer in the middle of the room and points the chip directly at it. As she predicted, the chip began to give out a signal alarm alerted Natasha of the large energy presence in the room. "But this can't be right, this technology's ancient."

Again Natasha's eyes land on the USB plug in and she wanders over to it placing the chip back on her thigh. She runs a finger over it before reaching inside her hair and pulling out a flash drive. "Where did you get that?" Steve questions right behind her.

"Fury; he said to not trust anyone. I don't know what's in it because it's blocked. I tried to get into numerous of times, but never succeeded. The person who invented this was slightly smarter than me." Natasha glanced over her shoulder at Steve before looking back at the plug in. "Slightly." She muttered more to herself then Steve. "Maybe, there isn't actually a code on here, but a message."

"What kind of message?"

Natasha shrugged, "Let's find out." She hesitantly plugged in the flash drive and almost instantly words appear on the large screen.

_Initiate System?_

The SHIELD agents share a glance before Natasha leaned over and typed, "Y-E-S spells yes." She spoke aloud before pressing enter. Green static appeared on the screen seconds later and the large camera on top began to move. It targeted Steve first before snapping a picture.

It began talking soon after, _"Rogers, Steven. Born 1918." _A German voice spoke before the camera moved over to Natasha. It flashed a second later. "Romanoff, Natalia Alianovna. Born 1984."

The green static soon turned into a blurred face of a man, a man who looked oddly familiar to Steve. Natasha eyebrows furrowed, "It's not kind of recording." She spoke softly.

And she rose an eyebrow when the computer spoke back to her, "_I am not a recording. I may not be the man I was when the Captain took me prison in 1945. But I am…"_

The screen next to the large one turned on and a very clear photo of the man appeared. Steve took a step forward, realization dawning on him. Natasha looked at Steve, "You know this man?" she asked utterly confused. But Steve on the other hand was in the middle of facing many memories that were suddenly thrown at him just at the sight of the scientist's face. He looked around the entire room before walking around the large computer searching desperately for something, anything to tell him that this isn't real.

"Arnim Zola was a German scientist who worked for the Red Skull. He's been dead for years." Steve spoke emotionlessly.

The computer replied back slightly offended, "_First correction I am Swish. Second, look around you I have never been more alive. In 1972 I received a terminal diagnosis. Science could not save my body. My mind, however, that was worth saving on two hundred thousand feet of data bank. You are standing in my brain."_

By this time Steve had circled around full coming to stand beside Natasha. "How did you get here?" He demanded.

"_In fighting alongside SHIELD." _

Steve looked to Natasha for confirmation, "This operation in paperclip after world war 2, SHIELD recruited German scientist with strategic value." She muttered as she thought back on information from long ago.

"_Thought I could help the cause." _Zola replied smugly. _"I also helped my own."_

Steve took a step forward and Natasha looked over at him, "Hydra died with the Red Skull."

Zola growled, "_Cut off one head, two more shall take its place._"

"Prove it." Steve challenged.

Machinery on the other side of the room began to whirl and turn like ones already operating. "_Accessing archives."_ Zola spoke as another screen began to show images. Johann Schmidt is the first thing he sees. "_Hydra was founded on the belief that humanity could not be trusted with its own freedom." _Steve and Natasha took a step in the computer's direction as more images and videos appeared. "_What we did not realize was if you tried to take that freedom, they resist. The war taught us much. Humanity needed to surrender its freedom willingly. After the war, SHIELD was founded and I was recruited. The new Hydra grew, a beautiful parasite inside SHIELD. It wasn't long after that Hydra joined Red Room, we were there Natalia when you were taken." _Natasha head whips around to face the scientist mid glance around the room. "_We were the ones who took you and made you who you are today. Without Hydra, you would be nothing. Neither would you Captain. For seventy years, Hydra has been secretly feeding crisis, reaping war and when history did not cooperate, history was changed." _An image of a gun shooting a president in the head showed next after videos of war.

Natasha stared incredulously at the computer, "That's impossible SHIELD would've stopped you."

"_Accidents will happen."_ An old news article popped up with the words '_**Howard and Maria Stark Die in Car Accident.' **_A large exit is crossed over Howard's picture along with big, red letters that said DECEASED. At this point Natasha and Steve couldn't even pretend to hide their shock and they stared gaping at the computer in front of them, eyes wide.

"Stark." Steve muttered to himself.

"_Hydra created a world so chaotic that humanity is finally ready to sacrifices its freedom to gain its security. Once securitization is complete, Hydra's new world order will arise. We won Captain."_ Steve jaw's tightens and his hands clench into fist. Rage fills inside him when a new, unpublished article of him appears. _**'Rogers Disappeared: The HERO who SACRIFICED everything.'**_ "_Your death amounts to the same as your life. A zero sum."_ Steve reacts before his mind and he whirls around- Natasha already seeing what's going to happen as she bends down to avoid his hit- punching the large computer with Zola's blurred face. The screen cracks at his knuckles and his temple begins to scream in pain. Steve groans stumbling back into Natasha. She catches him easily and steadies him on his face, but keeping an arm around his torso. But unfortunately, the blow to the screen didn't shut Zola up. He just went to the next screen, _"As I was saying-"_

"-What's on this drive?" Steve demanded fiercely moving away from Natasha and up to the USB.

"_Insight requires insight."_ Zola merely replies. "_So I wrote an algorithm._

Now Natasha moves forward eagerly, "What kind of algorithm? What does it do?"

"_The answer to your question is fascinating," _Zola says mockingly, "_Unfortunately you'll be too unconscious to hear it."_

The door behind them yanks open and guards fill in immediately, guns raised at the two. Natasha pulls Steve behind her protectively before holding up her own gun, Steve following suit. But it's no use, there's too many and there outnumbered by a hundred. Natasha and Steve are pinned down almost instantly, the guns being ripped from them as they're pressed painfully into the floor. Natasha groans in pain and Steve cries out when someone touches his temple. "Don't hurt him!" Natasha growls moving to get to Steve only to be brought back down.

The Captain moves his attention back to the computer, "You tricked us." He accused.

"_I'm afraid I have been stalling Captain. I guess that means we are both of us… out of time."_

Steve world turns black, the last thing he sees is Natasha being pulled away.

.

.

.

"Sir we have a hit," Maria speaks urgently as she barges into the room, the Avengers hot on her trail. "A Wartsila-Sulzer RTA96-C turbocharged two-stroke diesel generator, in Stalingrad, Russia."

Fury looks up from the person he was just talking to. "Good, because we have just located the suspect."

"Who?" Bruce demands, his eyes turning slightly green.

Fury nods to the person in front of him and the Avengers follow his gaze. The person sitting in the chair, looking very smug, wears a heavy smirk and gazes up at the Avengers condescendingly. His arms and legs are shackled to the ground and chair preventing him from moving, but his inability to move doesn't seem to damper his mood as his green eyes land on Bruce and his smirk grows.

"Hello Avengers, nice to see you again."

…

Loki.


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry Fanfiction cut off the beginning part of this chapter, so I had re upload it the minute I noticed. For those that thing this is another chapter, it technically is considering you haven't read the beginning yet. I'm so sorry about that! I hope you enjoy!**

Bruce's body acts before his mind and in less than a second, he's hovering above Loki as his hands strangle the God's pale, skinny neck. Despite being choked at the moment, Loki continues to sport the amused smirk on his face. His expression only seems to anger Bruce more and the scientist's body starts shaking furiously. A clear- tale sign that if he isn't calmed soon, he'll change.

Although Bruce takes much satisfaction in the way Loki's face pales drastically when Bruce's skin begins to turn green, it still doesn't overcome the burning rage he feels. It's because of Loki that Natasha and Steve are gone. Because of him that they're in danger. And because of him that Hydra could kill them at any moment's notice and he could lose his family.

Upon realizing that Bruce's grip tightens and Loki begins gasping for air, Fury steps in.

"Dr. Banner, stop." Fury's voice speaks firmly from behind him. Bruce whips his head around to glare daggers at the man standing from his desk. "Let him go."

His eyes turn from brown to green in seconds. "Let… h-him… _go."_ His voice is strained as he replies in disbelief. It even shows in his features for a split second before being replaced with anger. "LET HIM GO!" He spits out, his chest heaving heavily.

"Do you know who he is?" Clint demands, his face red from anger. "Why are you defending him! I say Bruce just choke the hell out of him."

Despite the anger he feels towards his brother, Thor can't help that small pang of guilt as he watches Loki get choked by Bruce. Only he can't help, but agree with Clint. Tony nods in agreement and Thor's eyes say it all. Fury glowers at all of them, "Don't you have any mind at all!?" He screeches at them. "We can't kill him!"

"Why the hell not!?" Tony yells back.

"Because he has answers!" Fury says, his voice ringing louder then all of theirs' combined.

Bruce freezes at Fury's words, his hands still wrapped tightly around Loki's neck, but loosening slightly as he takes a moment to process the words spoken to all of them. He has answers…

He has _answers._ Answers they need!

Without a second thought, Bruce lets go of Loki's neck and grabs a hold of his collar picking up his body so his face was at eye level with his. "Where are they?" He asks, spitting each word out slowly and fiercely. Loki smirks at him, but doesn't answer him. Only bad mistake on his part. Bruce grabs the side of Loki's head and slams it into the floor, slaps him twice before forcing him to meet his gaze again. "Don't fuck with me… Where. Are. They?" He says actually spitting saliva on Loki's face.

Loki frowns, his hands- still cuffed tightly together- raising to wipe away the spit. "You're questions are interesting, with fascinating answers. Unfortunately, Nickolas and I were just discussing what you'd give me in return for my answers." Loki replies easily as if his head hadn't have just been slammed into the floorboard.

"How about you stop shitting us and give us what we want?" Clint asks coming to Bruce's side and placing the tip of his arrow into Loki's temple- 'where did he get his arrow so fast?' Bruce thought distractedly for a moment. "Or else you get an arrow to the head."

Loki rolled his eyes, "But how ever would you find out where you're precious Captain and Widow are if you kill me. Like Nickolas said, I have all the answers." Loki smiles wickedly when he hears Fury growl behind him at Loki's use of his full name.

"We'll find a way." Tony says, his metal clinking against the floor as he walked closer to the three in the middle of the room.

Loki moves his gaze from Tony to Thor who stays rooted by the door. "Thor would never let that happen. Right brother?" Loki asks condescendingly. Thor glares at him. Loki bellows out an evil laugh before meeting Thor's glare with a mocking one. "Of course, it would be beneath you kill a family member. You don't have the guts even if you wanted to."

Thor growls, "Do not mock me Loki. And I wouldn't underestimate my actions because of what you've done previously in the past. You're just like the rest. You're not my brother."

Loki rolls his eyes, "Oh always stirring up things from the past. If you killed me, what would mother say?"

"Mother is dead." Thor deadpans with hard eyes.

"And who's fault is that?" Loki asks his eyes slightly hardening as well.

And that was the last straw for Thor.

Bruce, Clint and Tony are pushed aside instantly as Thor storms inside, grabbing Loki's neck before pinning him to the wall. His hammer rests firmly at his feet as he uses the muscle in his arms to choke Loki. Loki's reaction darkens as his smirk is replaced with a snarl. "Son of Odin." He spits out at Thor.

"No not just of Odin! You think you alone who loved mother. You had her tricks, but I had her trust." Thor asks, his eyebrows furrowing in frustrations.

"Trust?" Loki shouts in rage. "Was her last expression? Trust! Where you let her die!?"

"But what good were you in your cell?!" Thor yells back, angrier

"Who put me there?" Loki whispers before lashing out. "WHO PUT ME THERE!?"

"You know damn well, YOU KNOW DAMN WELL!" Thor yells, grabbing a hold of Loki's collar and pulling him from the wall before slamming him into it. Loki groans in protest, his eyes closing in pain as he breathes through his nose. Thor slams him into the wall one more time before letting him go. Loki slides down the wall and lands in a heap on his butt. He glowers up at Thor who continues to stand over him, breathing heavily. Without breaking eye contact, Thor addresses Fury, "He wont be of any help. He's useless. It's better to just kill him now."

Loki stares up at Thor shock coloring his features, before he schools them and growls up at him. "He wont kill me, none of you will." Loki argues before scrambling up to stand. "You need me, I'm too valuable."

"You're of more use dead then you are alive." Thor spits out at him. "We can find our teammates by ourselves, you wont do anything, but cause trouble." He turns and grabs a hold of Bruce's arm pulling him up. "Let's go my friends. Nickolas, get rid of him." Thor says without turning to look at Fury or Loki.

"You cant kill me! You cant get rid of me that easily Thor!" Loki yells at him as Thor heads for the door.

"Thor he has answers." Bruce states firmly yanking his arm out of Thor's grasp. "I'm not letting anyone kill him until he tells me where Natasha and Steve are."

"He wont, he'll just string you along. He has no interest in helping you find them; trust me. I know him. We're better off without him." Thor replies back glaring at Loki over Bruce's shoulder.

"They're in Russia." Loki replies back challengingly. "Stalingrad, Russia."

…

Every head turns to acknowledge Loki each expressing a different expression. Bruce's disbelief, Clint's skeptical, Tony's anger, Thor's disgust, and Fury's calculating. It only takes a moment for Loki's words to sink and when it does, everything goes into motion. Fury grabs the phone and begins speaking into it furiously and fast. Thor, Clint and Tony leave the room to get suited up so they could get shipped out. Bruce grabs a hold of Loki's neck, demands Fury for the key to his cuffs, before following the others out dragging Loki behind him. Because there was no way they were leaving him behind.

As much as he hated to admit it, Loki was right. He was much too valuable.

.

**Natasha…**

.

The first thing Natasha expected to feel upon regaining consciousness was a sense of pain or even discomfort. Because surely being hit with the butt of a gun is not pleasant. Only when she comes to, the only thing she registers is a feeling of happiness. It confused her and the confusion then lead her to opening her eyes. And the sight she saw brought tears to her eyes and a smile to her lips.

She was lying in a meadow of grass similar to the place she and Bruce would always take baby Steve when they needed a break from life. It's where he enjoyed being with his parents. He's play with them, and laugh with them. His favorite part of that afternoon was when Bruce sat him down in her lap and read him a story. There were days where the reading was replaced with singing, but it mostly consisted of reading considering Natasha didn't sing freely. But every once in a while, Steve squeezed a song out of her.

This particular place always made her smile and now was no exception. Sitting up in the soft grass beneath her, Natasha's gazed locked on two brown orbs starring at her from across the yard. She recognized them immediately.

"Bruce." She breathed as if the mere sight of him knocked all of the wind out of her lungs.

At his name, Bruce smiles lovingly at her, "Hi Natasha."

"Your okay." She said more to herself then him, and even through it wasn't a question, he answered anyway.

"Yeah I'm okay and so are you."

Natasha scrambled to get to her feet and took off towards the scientist as soon as she regained her balance. She didn't even slow down when she got into arms reach causing her to smack right into Bruce. Luckily he saw it coming and held his ground to prevent them from falling. He caught her, wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her close. They closed their eyes simultaneously and held each other close and tight, afraid that if they let go they'll lose the other. Bruce turned his head and planted a kiss on Natasha's cheek and went for another one, but she turned her head in time to make sure they're lips were the ones that met. Bruce melted into the kiss, accepting it and greedily wanting more. They stayed clinging to each other for what felt like hours. When Natasha pulled away, she beamed lovingly up at him, letting only a few tears slip past her strong facade. "I thought they took you, hurt you." Natasha admitted, fear evident in her voice. Just the thought of Hydra hurting Bruce made her body tremble.

Bruce looked down to meet her glassy gaze, a hand coming to rest on her cheek, "I thought they killed you. I was so worried." He whispered softly. Natasha didn't know what to say, what can you say when you lover just tells you that he thought you were dead. So she did the only thing that comes to mind. She tilted her head, got on her tippy toes and pressed her lips firmly against his again. Wordlessly assuring him that she's there and alive while also getting some comfort from him through the kiss. Bruce didn't hesitate to reciprocate.

When they pulled away, the bliss of the moment seemed to disappear as Natasha began to panic. "Steve..." She whispers, her eyes reflecting the shame she felt. He should've been the first thing on her mind when she woke up, not the last. She didn't even consider thinking about him until now. But now she is and now that she thinks about, she doesn't even know where he is. "Where's Steve?" She demanded. Bruce smiles before pointing behind her. Her head whipped around and sure enough there he is playing on the ground happily, obviously oblivious to his parents behind him. Natasha's chest falls, a sigh of relief passing her lips. She makes to go grab him, but Bruce beats her to him.

Steve giggles when he's suddenly lifted, his arms wrapping around Bruce's neck as he rested his head on his shoulder. "Mama." Steve mumbles smiling up at her.

"Hi love." Natasha whispers sweeping down to kiss Steve's cheek.

Steve laughs at the feel of her lips on his cheek, and normally the sound of it would make her smile, but this time it didn't. Nothing was wrong with it, it sounded the same as it always did. But it sounded… distant. As if Steve were yards away rather than directly in front of her. She stares curiously at the boys in front of her. "Steve?" She asks. Bruce and Steve just smile at her as if she didn't say anything. "Bruce?" Again she doesn't get a response.

When Natasha reaches an arm out to grab Bruce's hands, the boys begin to grow farther from her as if they were getting pulled back by an invisible force. Panic sets in, "Bruce? Steve! No!" She screams when they get even further. Natasha tries to take a step in their direction, but she can't move. Literally. Her feet aren't allowing her to move from her spot. Her panic quickly turns to hysteria in the blink of an eye. Her eyes widen and tears swim beneath her eyes, an arm whipping out to try to reach her boys. "BRUCE! STEVE! COME BACK! PLEASE, DON'T LEAVE ME! COME BACK! NO!"

.

.

"NO!" Natasha shoots upright, her hands grasping the white sheets beneath her tightly. Sweat traces along her hair line, some dripping down her face and onto her neck. Her eyes are wide, almost comically, but her mind alert. 'Get a grip on yourself.' She demands of herself when she feels het body shaking. 'Think Tasha. Where are you? Where are you!?'

Before she can focus on her surroundings, a pinching sensation on her arm demands her attention. Looking down, Natasha nearly wrenches the IV from her arm and tosses to the ground continuing to do that until she is attached to nothing else. Shuffling off the bed, Natasha finds herself leaning onto the wall for support. The minute she stood, her vision turned from clear to blurry in less than a second. For a minute, Natasha had to stand there, gasping for air as she waits for the world to clear up. Not being able to see is It doesn't take long for her to get her and one she does, she glances around the room once before locking her eyes on the white door in front of her. She's in a hospital room and after a quick body inspection she realized the IV was pumping morphine into her body, not any other type of drug. She can vaguely feel the discomfort she was prepared to feel when she woke, but it still wasn't as much as she thought. "What the hell?" She muttered to herself when seeing what she had on. She was still wearing the guard outfit and nothing seemed to be out of place. Her gun was taken from her, obviously, but nothing else. They left her with a hand grenade, five knives, a taser, and keys. Keys to what? She's not sure because at the moment she's getting very offended. Do they really think she poses no threat? Is that why they left her with weapons?

Natasha's blood begins to boil and her hand instinctively goes to grip the handle of one of her knives. Stalking up to the door, Natasha is about to yank it open when she suddenly stops.

It isn't until now that she realizes...

She's not alone.

"Was curious to see how long it was going to take for you to figure it out." Said a velvety voice behind her. The voice made her skin crawl.

Without turning around, she addressed the voice, "I thought you were dead."

"You wish I were dead Ms. Romanoff."

"Every one wishes you were dead. Even Thor." She replies through gritted teeth.

"Why so harsh? Isn't it accustomed for morals to speak kindly to old... friends."

"We aren't friends."

"Obviously, but still it would be nice to hear something similar to kindness."

"How about?" Gripping her knife harder, Natasha whirls around quickly and, with a mighty swing, throws the knife. It slices through the air and before it can reach its target, he disappears. Natasha isn't fazed by the sudden distance. She stands straight, head high, waiting. "Is that enough welcome for you Loki?"

Loki's laugh fills the room, "It'll do for now, but we must not wait. We don't have a lot of time." He reappears behind her. "You have to listen to me in order to escape with your son safely. They'll be coming to check on you soon."

Natasha turns around. "Do you honestly think I would trust you after all you've done? For all I know, you're the reason we're in this mess in the first place." Loki only stares at her with an eyebrow raised waiting. Natasha's eyebrows furrow in concentration, thinking hard as she replays her previous words.

It only takes a minute.

Natasha hand reaches behind her, but Loki's voice stops her. "Throwing another knife won't do any good. It'll just lose you another weapon." He tells her, the previous knife she had thrown, suddenly in his hand. He hands it back without hesitation. "But yes, it was I who caused this. Only you will have time to blame me later. Right now we have to get you out, we're on our way to rescue you." Natasha would've been angry and refuse to listen to him, but she got hopeful when he said 'we're'. "Yes yes yes, the Avengers are on their way if that's what you're thinking. Now that we have established that, we need to hurry."

Natasha's tenses instantly, "Why?"

"It won't be long before they deem the Captain as useless. Once they acquire what they need, they'll dispose of him… then you."

Without thinking Natasha reaches out and attempts to grab Loki's arm, only to succeed in stumbling right through him. Only this doesn't stop her, "where is he? What are they going to him? Is he hurt?"

Loki sighs, "No he's not hurt, but even if they were hurting him, he wouldn't feel it."

Natasha's panic rises, "what do you mean?"

"He's sedated. They're keeping him unconscious and pumping unhealthy amounts of drugs into him, although it wouldn't matter to him since he would burn through them in a matter of minutes. It's still too strong for him to fight it."

"Where is he?" She demands, her heart races and body shaking.

"Now this is where you and the Captain have to trust me. Do you swear to listen to whatever I say and do whatever I ask?" Loki asks reaching an arm out, but making no attempt to move closer to her.

Natasha eyes him skeptically, "How do I know I should trust you?"

"Because if you don't, soon you'll be looking at the corpse of your son and following him leaving Banner without any family and the Avengers two less teammates. I assure you this is not a game, I am accompanying the Avengers to retrieve you and the Captain."

Natasha doesn't hesitate before nodding vigorously. She doesn't question it, only embraces it. Despite this hurting her ego- taking orders from a God, and Loki of all people- she'd do it to protect her son. "What do I have to do?


	13. Chapter 13

She stumbled out of her hospital room and slowly made her way around the corner. Still recovering from the injury on her head, it prevented her from being quicker and steadier when walking down the narrow halls. She went through numerous doors, each one leading into almost identical pass ways, but she knew where she was going. With Loki and her memory as her guide she passed through the seemingly empty halls, trying to get to Steve as fast as she can.

After entering another vacant hallway, she leaned against the wall for a breather and to focus her unsteady eyes. She had a concussion, that much was obvious and it was affecting the way she was seeing. She growled in irritation as her vision continued to whirl in and out at an unsteady pace. She can afford to lose her seeing right now, she needs it in order to find Steve then find the others.

Loki stayed silent, his eyes roaming the area as he let her catch her breath. She gives herself a minute. A full minute to recuperate. In that minute she raises her arms over her head, closing her eyes, and breathes in through her nose and out through her mouth. They sedated her and whatever sedative they should made her weaker than normal. Hopefully, it didn't do anything to her aim when it came to fighting, she'll need it sooner or later. Unfortunately, the minute she granted herself was interrupted.

"Natasha look out!" Luckily she had Loki looking out for her because she wouldn't have noticed that bullet and moved out of the way in time. A bullet whizzed past Natasha's shoulder and, relying purely on her hearing, she turned, opened her eyes, and angled one of her tasers in the direction of where the bullet came. Her visions begins to clear and she watches emotionlessly as the taser attached the gunman's neck and he falls to the ground, violently shaking due to the large amount of shocks entering his body. Suddenly the man's body is engulfed with green light and he's dead before Natasha has time to blink. She glances up at Loki before turning to the man's body again. "Thanks." She mutters going to the body, grabbing the man's gun, retrieving her taser and getting any weapons that he had on his person.

Before her and Loki could continue on in their search for Steve, she felt more than saw another person behind her. She whirled around to avoid another bullet to her heart, but wasn't quick enough. The bullet skimmed her arm. It hurt like a bitch, but she paid no attention to it and turned to see a tall, sturdy man nearing her with two rifles. He may have an advantage on her when it comes to height and weight, but he was uncoordinated, sloopy with the guns. Natasha used that to her advantage. Loki raises his arm to do the same with this gunman as he did with the first, but a quick shake of the head from Natasha stopped him. He put his arm down and with one quick movement, Natasha kicked both guns out of his hand jumped onto his back, her legs wrapping tightly around his neck. The man struggled and used his weight to try to knock her down. It was almost enough to knock Natasha off. _Almost_.

Regaining her balance and grip on his neck, putting much effort into it, she tugs and heard the familiar crack of his neck snap. She gracefully jumped off his back just as his body began to fall to the floor. She was already weighted down the first gunman's weapons, she didn't need more slowing her down. Without looking at the body again, she began to run down the hallway, Loki hot on her heels.

They encountered two guards, both off guard by the unexpected meeting with her and Loki that they didn't react fast enough to protect themselves from the knives that pierced their hearts.

Adrenaline pumped through Natasha's veins and sweat poured down her face from the excursion of fighting the first two guards and running. She was ready for anything. She turned the corner of another hallway when Loki suddenly urged her into the first door on the left. She didn't want to, but it was Loki's magical force that forced her body to move. She growled in annoyance when the door closed behind her.

"What?"

"You need to hide right now. We have arrived."

Natasha's eyes grow hopeful and she turns to leave. "I need to help them."

"No you need to stay hidden. Once we alert the alarms, guards will be coming this way. If they see you, you're dead." Loki warns, and with the flick of his head the door locks before she can open it.

Natasha growls and whirls around to face him. "I'm not going to just sit here and let you guys fight" She hisses through clenched teeth.

"Of course not," Loki assures her, gently. "You'll be getting the Captain while we fight." Natasha's about to ask how when the vent above her opens suddenly. She turns around and glances up, a smirk slowly spreading across her face. "After you."

Natasha looks around the room. She finds a tall bookshelf that will suffice for giving her a boast up. Moving it beside the door and leaning it against the wall, she scales the bookshelf and swiftly jumps into the vent. She glances at Loki. "You coming?"

Loki shakes his head. "I need to focus on fighting. Until I see you again Ms. Romanoff." Loki gives her a small salute and bow before disappearing.

Without giving Loki a second thought, she crawls away from the opening and through the narrow vents. The farther she went in, the more the vents expanded until the point where she could fit comfortably and breathe better.

Turning corner after corner, Natasha began to get aggravated at the never-ending hall. Every room she looked inside was never the right one. After checking a few rooms she finally broke down and began calling Steve's name in hopes that he might hear her. To her relief, she got an answer after calling his name for the fifth time, but it wasn't what she was hoping for.

She got a baby cry in return.

"Mama!" Steve cried.

They turned him back into a baby. Immediately after this realization she felt the ground beneath her shake. The helicarrier had arrived.

The fight had begun and she was only seconds away from seeing Steve.

With him in mind, she lunges forward and ceases the first opening. Looking inside, she found her son standing inside a crib as he called for Natasha and Bruce. But he wasn't alone. "Shut up! You whiny little cunt!" Someone roared from across the room. Natasha would've jumped down and slit that person's throat immediately, if she hasn't of frozen in place by the sound of the person's voice. His voice made her blood boil and her fingers curled around the metal beneath her fingers.

"That's impossible, it can't be him." Natasha growled under her breath. "He's...He's..."

In that moment the person who had spoken to Steve stepped into her line of view and slapped the child hard in the face. Her blood grew cold instantly.

_He's dead._

Without wasting a second, Natasha pulled out a knife and threw it with all her strength hoping they hit their target. Unfortunately, her target sensed it coming his way and he moved out of the way before it can pierce his heart. Only he's not fast enough to avoid the gash the knife makes on his arm. Steve looked up the moment he saw the knife and Natasha's nostrils flare in anger when seeing the red handprint on his left cheek. Steve sniffles and reaches a hand up, eyes watery, "Mama!" She lunges from her position and onto the ground, placing her body in front of Steve protectively. Her eyes narrow in on the wound she inflicted on his arm before turning a deadly glare on its owner.

His black eyes sparkle dangerously and he smiles as if greeting an old friend. "_Natalia." _ He hisses happily, his hand going to run over the knife wound. Red coats his hand and he pulls it away to examine. "Excellent aim my dear, but I must say the way you delivered the knife was very sloppy. If you had been more precision, you could've hit your target."

"You're supposed to be dead." She was going to listen to his bullshit. "I killed you myself _Lukin._" She practically growled his name.

Aleksander Lukin.

Otherwise known as one of the KGB generals and whom, in other words, trained Natasha to become who was now.

Lukin laughed humorlessly, stepping closer to her and Steve. "It seems your heart has gotten you in a bit of trouble my sweet. What has Banner done to you? You use to be so… good. What happened? And don't tell me it was motherhood. You know, if you were mine I'd wipe your mind until they'd be nothing left!" He growled, his tone turning angry. Natasha continued to glower at him, her teeth pulled back baring her teeth. "Nevertheless, I have exactly what I need." His eyes locked on Steve's small form behind Natasha's back. "And he's right here." He takes another step closer, but stops when Natasha suddenly lunges forward to place a knife near his neck. The sharp tip pierces his skin, but only slightly, more as a threat than a warning. She knows he knows that she'll slice his neck without hesitation, but the question is when?

Natasha meets eye contact with him, her tone cold and face emotionless. "Don't touch my son." She whispers menacingly, her free hand coming to press harshly down on the gash the knife made on his arm. In that one second when Lukin had taken a step towards Steve, Natasha Romanoff had vanished. Now he was facing eye to eye with the enraged Black Widow, fueled by a mother's rage and maternal instinct when seeing her child in danger. Which only made her all the more deadly.

Despite being held at knifepoint, Lukin laughed merrily after wincing from the discomfort of having her hand on his wound. He was not at all fazed by her threat. He's actually amused at her sudden action, his smirk telling Natasha that he knows something. Something she doesn't. They're stare down continues until she hears the all too familiar click of a gun coming off safety mode. "It seems we lost the element of surprise, don't you think?" Before Natasha has time to process what that means, she feels another presence in the room. One that isn't Lukin or Steve.

"Stop!" Natasha's blood freezes, her grips on her knife tightens in anticipation. Her body involuntarily flinches. There's someone behind her. Someone with a gun. Someone who's standing closer to Steve than she is. It only takes a second for her to realize what that gun is pointing at. Her stomach churns uncomfortably thinking of Steve at gun point. "Turn around." The person behind her commands, but her eyes stays planted on Lukin who continues to smile down at her mockingly. She stood still, except for her free hand slowly comes around to reach into her pocket, out of Lukin's view. "Turn around!" Her breathing hitches when Steve lets out a whimper of pain. Her fingers had just skimmed against one of the scalpels in her pocket, thumbing off the cap. "Turn around or I'll blow his goddamn brains out!"

Being obedient is the only way to ensure Steve's safe, so she slowly and carefully turns away from Lukin, but takes three subtle backs up to keep him in her vision at all time. Her fingers stay planted on Lukin's arm, tightening slightly to warn him that she's not afraid to hurt him if anything happens to Steve. Johann Schmidt stood before her, Steve in his arms as he holds the child at gunpoint, squeezing to the point of pain.

Tears stream down Steve's face as he stares sacredly and longingly at Natasha. He opens his mouth to cry out to Natasha, but only ends up gasping when Johann tightens his grip.

It dawns on Natasha that it's not Lukin who she should be fighting, he's merely just a distraction. A distraction she fell for. Her true opponent is Johann.

It takes everything in Natasha not to immediately lung and kill the bastard for hurting, let alone touching, her child. "Mama…" Steve winces and Johann takes great satisfaction in the way the child sounds so defeated in just that one word.

"Don't worry baby," Natasha says soothingly, her cold eyes staying planted on him and watching Lukin out of her peripherals. She's in a bit of a dilemma. If she attacks Johann first that leaves Lukin a moment of opportunity to grab Steve before she can. She'll be too busy with Johann to notice Lukin's action. However, if she attacks Lukin first, Johann wont hesitation to put a bullet through Steve's body. He can still shoot him without killing him and Natasha will be damned if she lets that happen. If only she had adult Steve, then this will be a piece of cake. Right now she has to distract them either until the others come for her or until she finds an ultimatum. "You're going to be okay. You're going to be okay."

Johann laughs heartily, "Why Natalia, you know better than to promise something like that." He then turns his next few words to Steve. "Geez Rogers, how many time are you going to be getting back up? First me, then Loki and the Chitari, Hydra, The Winter Solider, me… again! It's kind of pissing me off." He presses the barrel of the gun harder into Steve's temple and Steve cries out in pain. "But I doubt you can survive Johann looks back up at her. "Want to find out if the great and mighty Captain America can handle a bullet to the brain?" His smile turns deadly, creepy. "Let's find out."

Natasha doesn't waste a second before lifting her leg and landing a kick into Lukin's stomach which sends him into the wall. She then proceeds to precisely aim two scalpels at the Schmidt, one at his hand and one at his neck, before he has the chance to pull the trigger. Unlike Lukin, he doesn't get away as fast. The scalpel lands firmly into the two places she was aiming. He gasps and drops his hold on Steve and the gun, Steve hits his head on the makeshift crib on his way down and falls unconscious at Schmidt's feet. Natasha's on him in a split second he spent reeling. She throws her entire body weight into him, knocking him backwards and away from Steve's still form, ramming his head and back into the wall behind them. "Don't touch _my _BABY!" She screamed, her body shaking with rage. His head hits with a sickening thud against the wall, it struck with enough force to crack the wall behind them.

Natasha produced a knife and slashed, but Schmidt was already far away, darting to Natasha's left. Sweat made Natasha's hair stick to her face as she whirled, trying to aim directly at him. But she was kicked in the back and thrown into the makeshift crib. Her body lands beside Steve's small form. Her eyes land on Steve's closed one. Caressing his small face, she checks his pulse, relived to find it still strong and fast. _He was just unconscious_, she reassured herself. Only when saw blood running down from along Steve's hairline, her blood began to boil. He was injured. He was _injured!_

Fury drove her. Natasha grabbed a new gun from her holster. Johann rolled out of the way before she could pull the trigger. He came at her low and ran into her, his arms wrapping around her stomach as he brought them both down. Natasha landed hard on the ground and stretched her neck as far as it would go when Johann held a knife to her just as she done to Lukin. He sat on her stomach, using his weight as an advantage against her. Sweat stung her eye and she blinked to clear her vision. She struggled restlessly and growled when Schmidt laughed in her face.

He smile down at her mockingly, "You're so beautiful Natalia, how did Banner end up with you? He's just a monster."

Her eyes flashed red. "_Don't_ talk about Bruce like _that!"_ she threatened, her body shaking violently due to her rage. She spit in his face. Schmidt grabbed Natasha's hair by her mussed pony tail and shoved her head back into the ground. Natasha gasped in pain. The impact dazed her and her hands dropped from where they were on the knife, trying to prevent it from going any further. She regained her sense enough to know to stop struggling or else she would have a knife in her neck. She glared up at him, her heart pounding wildly.

Johann punched her, her head snapping back into the cement below her. Natasha tasted blood and she brought her arms up in defense. Natasha cried as she felt the knife bit into her neck. She caught Schmidt's wrist in time before the neck can go completely in. Natasha cried out, slamming her leg back. She landed her sneakers into his knee with a satisfying crunch and he howled. She turned and shoved him back.

Schmidt staggered giving Natasha enough time to jump on his back. She wraps her legs around his neck and tries to do the same as she did with the second gunman, but Johann grabs her left leg before she can. He gives a sharp twist of his wrist and Natasha can hear, more than feel, a crack on her ankle. She winced in pain, but Johann didn't give her time to react before throwing her across the room. His throw was weak and Natasha managed to ground herself, sliding a few inches, before her feet find purchase. She stumbled to the ground and looked down to see her foot twisted at an odd angel. She sighed irritated, her ankle was broken. It more annoyed her than pained her. Still she stood, making sure to put her weight on her right leg and turns around to face Johann. She produces a handgun from her waist pointing it at him, but a silver arc of a blade came from behind her. She was too focused on him that she'd forgotten about Lukin. Grabbing a scalpel from her breast pocket, she throw it at Schmidt hitting his chest this time, before turning around and step siding another knife.

A roundhouse kick hit her wrist and the gun went flying into the corner of the room. Lukin smirked at her, "Come on Natalia, you've been gone a while. Remember the last time we went hand to hand? Why not, one more for old times' sake?"

Before Natasha had time to respond, Lukin came at her and she scrambled to defend herself. They moved quickly, each blocking and attacking the other with expertly- executed series of slashes and counters. Despite her broken ankle, she moved pretty fast and managed to effectively block majority of Lukin's attack. Her main thought was Steve, she had to protect him. No matter what happened to her, Steve had to be okay. She'll be damned if anything happened to him. Her eyes catch on his small form laying uselessly on the floor, her fury only rose which resulted in her being faster and stronger than her opponent. Natasha's eyes didn't stay on Steve longer enough to notice the small toddler begin to move.

Lukin took note of her sudden rage as he begin to fight back with the same amount of strength, only being a little more shaky and panicky when he realized Natasha had an advantage over him. He was powered by the urge to finally beat her when he never could before, but Natasha was powered by a mother's love and a mother's instinct to protect her children from danger.

Steve opened his small eyes, fully aware of the fighting happening behind him. He choose to stay quiet and still. He kept his back to Natasha, his eyes facing forward when he saw it.

The re-aging/de-aging machine. (Tony and Bruce never knew what to call it so everyone referred to it as that).

Steve smiled because he saw his shield leaning right beside it, waiting for him. Calling to him. The small child was very intuitive and he knew that his mother needed his help. He couldn't in this form, he had to go back to adult Steve. Sitting up, he glanced behind him before crawling quickly to the machine. He was just a step away from crawling into it when someone grabbed his foot. Shrieking, he turned and found Johann on the floor beside him, his hand had reached out to get Steve. He was bloody, filthy and extremely weak from the scalpels and the head injury, but he was still too strong for Steve. "Don't you dare!" He whispered, his other hand coming to grab Steve. Only Steve wasn't allowing it. He let out a huge scream and Schmidt recoiled from the sound of it, curling into himself as a migraine happened. Unfortunately, the scream had caught Natasha's attention and she looked up for a split second to look at him. Only it was long enough for Lukin to sink a knife into her shoulder.

Natasha screamed out in pain and Steve's eyes widened. "MAMA!" Lukin was on Natasha before she could react and Steve began to cry. "MAMA!" Without wasting another second, he kicked Schmidt in the head and jumped through the machine.

The room is flooded with light momentarily breaking off the fight between Natasha and Lukin. She knew what that light meant and she closed her eyes before it could blind her. Lukin wasn't quick enough to close his eyes. The light gave her time to seize the knife in her shoulder and kick Lukin off of her. She took the knife out and proceeded to sink it into his hand when the light dispersed. Lukin screamed and Natasha jumped to her feet looking in the direction of the machine smiling when she sees Steve standing in his full Captain America uniform, his shield in his hands. Lukin swept his feet underneath Natasha's and she fell to the floor when he grabbed onto her broken ankle. She screamed using her other leg to kick him in the face. Lukin still didn't give away his grip on Natasha's leg. Steve advanced on him before Natasha could and Lukin actually recoiled in fear at Steve's towering form over him. He was overpowered and outnumbered.

He was defeated and he knew it.

Natasha stood up when his grip loosened on her feet and she limped to Steve's side. Lukin stared up at them panting with teary, frantic eyes. "You won't get away with this. Hydra will get him, they'll find a way to extract the serum out of him and will kill him. Evil will triumph because good is too stupid for its own good." Natasha kicks him in the face and Lukin takes the time to spit a tooth and blood out. He turns an eye up to the two Avengers and smiles. "Cut off one head, two more shall take its place. Hydra will kill all of you. This isn't the end!"

"It is for you." Steve mutters before raising his shield and bringing it down at Lukin's head.

"HAIL HYDRA!" Lukin gets one more sentence in before the shield dents his skull in.


	14. Chapter 14

Handing Natasha his shield, Steve reaches down and grabs onto the back of Schmidt's shirt. Lifting him up, Steve makes eye contact with him. "Where are they?"

Schmidt just stares at him, "Where are who?"

"Don't play dumb with me." Steve shakes him violently smiling slightly at his discomfort. "Where the hell are they? I know you're holding Bridget and her son hostage. I won't hesitate to slam your head into the wall again if you won't talk."

Schmidt shakes his head smiling, mockingly, "Slam my head into the wall? That's not really your style Rogers."

Steve makes eye contact with Natasha. She nods. Setting Schmidt on his feet, Steve brushes dirt off of his shirt, "You're right. It's not mine." Schmidt smiles relived. "It's hers." The smile disappears when Natasha suddenly raises her right leg to kick him in the stomach. He falls back and hits his head on the wall again. Schmidt groans and falls to the ground.

"Where are they?"

He barely glances up at them before turning his attention to the ground. "Sam is in the adjacent room. Bridget is…" He hesitate to finish the sentence.

Natasha steps closer causing Schmidt to recoil. "Where is Bridget?"

Johann looks up at them, his eyes showing no emotion. "She's dead."

Steve and Natasha blink. And blink. And blink.

The words don't make sense, yet they make perfect sense all at the same time.

Schmidt has Steve in his custody, the whole point of keeping Bridget was to lure him in and now that they have him, she's not needed. She's useless, disposable.

Steve didn't hesitate to punch him, effectively knocking him unconscious.

Natasha's shoulder sag in exhaustion and grief. She can't pretend she didn't know who Bridget was. When the kids would have play dates, Natasha and Bridget were forced to communicate, but it wasn't all that bad. Natasha found out that she was a sweet woman who loved her son very much. She'd do anything for him and to keep him safe, much like her with Steve. Bridget aspired to become doctor and would begin medical school when Sam started kindergarten. Only she would never get the chance. And Sam would never see his mother again. It broke Natasha's heart and brought tears to her eyes, but blinked them away as quickly as they came.

Steve's voice broke through her subconscious, interrupting the memories she was running through of her visits with Bridget. "I'll go get Sam." He says turning to leave.

Natasha grabbed his arm before he can further, "You're going to trust that he told you were Sam really was."

"It's better than having no idea where he is. We need to get him then we'll get out of here." Steve countered, loosening her grip on his arm.

Natasha sighed and let Steve go. "No, I'll go get him. Stay here with Schmidt until the others find us." Shifting on her feet, she winces when her ankle throbbed painfully.

Steve turns to her. "You're hurt. You can't."

She shakes her head stubbornly, "I'm fine. Just a little bruised and cut. I can handle carrying him."

Steve shook his head, "Nat I saw when Lukin stabbed your shoulder with a knife." She shrugged as if it was nothing. Before Steve had time retaliate, the door wall exploded. Steve threw himself down over Natasha, debris flying everywhere. There was a very distinctive whine of something charging up and Natasha smiled when she knew what it was. She'd heard it enough times in battle to recognize it as Iron Man's repulsors.

They looked up just in time to see Iron Man fly right through the wall. The suit landed a few inches away from them and they stood up when the faceplate lifted to reveal Tony Stark smirking at them. "Well, well, well, look what we have here. Looks like I missed an entertaining fight."

"If you had arrived minutes ago you could've seen it." Natasha replied back, smiling only slightly.

"Such a pity." Tony mock pouts and he turns to face Schmidt's useless form. "We taking him in Cap?"

"Yeah, but I've got him. Take Natasha, she's got a broken ankle, a bullet graze, a stab wound on her shoulder and a concussion." Steve informed ignoring the annoyed look Natasha sends his way.

Tony looked impressed. "Damn Nat, when you do things, you don't do them halfway do you?"

Natasha shrugged, "I like a challenge and it's not a big deal, I can walk. Besides we have to get Sam."

Tony raises an eyebrown, "Sam?"

"The toddler of the family we were watching. His mother, Bridget and him are being held prisoners here. They killed Bridget and we leave him, they'll kill him too.

"Damn it." Tony mutters under his breath. Sighing, he touches his comm. and speaks into it. "Guys, we have a small problem. Hydra's holding Sam, the toddler associated with Johann, hostage. They killed his mother and will kill him soon."

There's nothing on the other end, just static. A minute passes by until Barton's voice emits through the speaker, "It's Cap's call." Tony looks over at Steve. Steve nods.

"We're bringing him with us. Thor calm the Hulk down, we'll need Bruce. Natasha's injured and Sam may possible be." Tony says before walking over to her. Tony gets an affirmative from Thor and stalks over to Natasha. "Where is he?"

"Next door."

"I'll be back. Don't move." Natasha tried to protest, but Tony was already gone. She sighs and turns an annoyed glance onto Steve.

"Why did you do that? I don't need to be carried. I'm perfectly capable of walking."

"Because I don't want you walking injured." Steve countered. Natasha doesn't have time to respond because Tony flies back in the room with a sleeping Sam in his arms. He flies past Steve and wraps a metal arm around Natasha's waist, ignoring her scowl sent in his direction. "We cleared everything, there's no one left. Only," Tony nodded his head towards Alexi. "I'll be back for him. Here." Tony tosses handcuffs to Steve before flying upward with Natasha and Sam. Steve laughs when he hears Natasha's frustrated shout. Steve quickly handcuffs Alexi and grabs his shield again before turning to look at the machine still standing in the corner.

The very machine that had caused a lot of problems, but solved them as well.

Steve debated on destroying it or not. It was a hard decision considering this thing made his parents so happy. This thing made him happy. He could be Captain America and little Steve Rogers at the same time. He could live a normal life and kick ass when the world needed him too. But at what cost? What if he can't be Captain America when the world needs him because the machine is out of his reach? Just like a few minutes ago. Natasha needed help and he couldn't help her because he was a child. She could've died and it would've all been his fault because he wasn't there when she needed him. He can't let that happen again because what if next time the machine wouldn't be there. What if before he can get through the machine, Natasha's opponent makes the perfect move and he loses her before he can help her? There's too much at risk if they keep this thing.

Sure it makes Natasha and Bruce happy that he's their baby again, but he'd rather stay an adult then risk their lives all because he wants to stay a child. His parents mean more to him than any normal childhood. He'll be damned if he loses them because of this thing.

He didn't realize how long he stood there thinking until he heard Tony return. "What are you doing?" he asks from behind him.

Steve turns his head to glance over his shoulder before looking at the machine again. He decided to be blunt and tell Tony. "I know how much effort you and the others put into this, and I appreciate it. Natasha, Bruce and I all do."

"But you think it's best if we destroy it." Tony finishes, sounding not all offended or defeated. He actually sounds understanding.

Steve nodded solemnly. "They'll be crushed, only it's for the best."

"What about you?"

Steve turned around and weakly smiled at Tony. "Your guys' lives matters more than any normal childhood. I won't let this thing get into the wrong hands again."

Tony smiled, "I'm touched Cap, truly."

Steve laughed, "Just do what you do best Stark."

His faceplate slides down again, "J, power up the repulsors to 100."

"Yes sir." Steve can hear Jarvis reply in the suit.

Steve can hear the suit charging up and right before Tony gives the final blow, Tony looks over at Steve, "This is for you Cap and you might want to take cover." Steve jumps right behind his makeshift crib before the machine explodes into a million tiny pieces.

Silence spreads across the room seconds after the explosion. He waits a minute before standing, coughing slightly from the fumes. Somberly he looks over at where the machine used to be standing only to see a pile of ashes. He tries to keep his face blank of emotion, stuffing his hands in his pockets before nodding. He looks over at Tony, "Thanks."

"No problem." Tony strides over to Schmidt and tosses him over his shoulder like a rag dog. "We have to go Cap; we're blowing this popsicle stand."

Tearing his eyes away from the ruined corner of the room Steve nods again. "How's Sam?"

Tony shrugs, "Unconscious. Didn't even wake up when I handed him to Clint." The cement beneath them begins to shake. "We better go. Thor's getting ready." Tony raises his free arm and blows a huge enough hole to fly through. He then proceeds to wrap his arm around Steve's waist. "Hold on."

"To what?" Steve laughs.

Tony just laughs before taking off through the ceiling.

.

.

.

.

"That's a nasty injury momma." Steve comments walking up to Natasha and Bruce whom is currently wrapping Natasha's stabbed shoulder and proceeding to do the same to her ankle.

Natasha smiles up at him, shaking her head. "I've had worse." She gestures for him to sit next to her which he gladly obliges.

Steve looks over at Bruce and smiles, "You're a sight for sore eyes."

Bruce chuckles, "I could say the same about you."

Without disturbing his work, Steve quickly gives Bruce a one-armed hug before sitting next to Natasha. "I miss you dad."

"Me too son, me too." Bruce said obviously hiding his emotions behind a skillfully placed mask. Steve doesn't see right through it, but Natasha does. From the many years of being with him. "What about you Steve? You hurt?" Bruce asks.

"No," He says immediately. "No I'm fine, I promise." Steve glances over at the little baby wrapped in a light blanket still asleep in Clint's arms. "How's Sam? Are you sure he's alright? Shouldn't he have woken up?"

Bruce sighed, removing his glasses. "He Stark when get to get you and Schmidt, he woke up and was very disoriented. Clint managed to get him to sleep again. He only has a few cuts and bruises, nothing major."

Steve opens his mouth to say something, but is cut off by Clint. "Rogers."

"I'll be back." Steve makes his way to the archer who has transferred the sleeping toddler to the seat beside him.

Bruce and Natasha watch Steve walk away, Natasha with longing and Bruce with relief. They turn back to each other simultaneously, and they can both see that they have so much to say to each other. Natasha stares down at him sadly and runs a hand through his hair, "Bruce, you don't have to hide it. He's not here anymore. It's just you and me."

Bruce smirks at the line she had once delivered to him the first time they met. He met her eyes, "Just you and me, huh?"

Natasha laughs, "I actually mean it." Running her thumb along his cheekbones, she gives his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "What's wrong?" She whispers softly.

Sighing, he runs a hand over his face before dropping it into his lap and settling his gaze on her. "I thought they killed you. Both of you."

"Bruce," Natasha slides from her chair and gets on her knees to be at eyelevel with him.

Tears pool in the corner of the scientist's eyes. "I was so scared, Nat. I thought I wasn't going to find you guys in time or I wouldn't find you at all."

Cupping his chin, she gives him a small weak smile and uses her thumb to wipe the lone tear that makes it way down his face. "You really think we'd let them kill us?" She shakes her head and pecks his lips slightly. "Never. As for the finding us part, I always knew you were coming. That's how we knew to keep fighting."

Placing his hands on top of Natasha, he smiles down at her and closes his eyes. Leaning into her touch, he lets out a long sigh. "I'd always find you. I wouldn't stop till I did."

Natasha nods, tears shimmering in her eyes, "I know."

Bruce stares down at her, hands coming to rest on her neck, bringing her face to be at exact eye level with his. "I love you." He whispers very softly, loud enough for only Natasha to hear.

Natasha's breath hitches, clamping down onto her bottom lip to keep from crying. She missed him so much; this was exactly what she needed to hear from him. Caressing his cheek, she leaned forward and lightly pressed her lips to his. "I love you too." She whispers against them before putting more pressure onto his lips. Bruce reciprocates eagerly.

The door opens at that exact moment and Loki and Thor stroll into the helicarrier smiling like idiots and shoving each other playfully. Thor wraps his big bicep around Loki and Loki makes a show of trying to get out, but fails miserably due to the shackles still binding his arms to himself. Only that lone detail doesn't seem to be bothering either of them. The brothers laugh heartily together. It's a picture that would've melted Frigga's fragile heart seeing the two brothers actually acting like _brothers!_

From his new viewpoint from under Thor's arm, he sees Natasha and Bruce passionately kissing. He smirks mischievously. "Get a room lovebirds," Loki calls from across the jet purposely interrupting their private moment.

Natasha and Bruce pull away, rolling both their eyes. Under normal circumstances, she'd want to gladly rip his head off for interrupting them and being his normal annoying ass self, but considering what he had done for her and Steve, she'd reconsider her course of action. Turning to him, she smiles at the chokehold Thor has on him. "You're just jealous?"

Loki raises his eyebrow and swiftly moves out from between Thor's arm. "Jealous of what, may I ask Ms. Romanoff?"

Natasha shrugs, "Love." She says simply.

He laughs humorlessly, "I thought love was for children as I do recall you telling me." He saunters over to the corner of the jet as Thor goes off to speak with Clint and Steve. Natasha's eyes wanders over to the blonde and a small smile spreads across her face. Loki follows her gaze and smiles genuinely, "That was before you had Steven." He answers for her, reading her mind. Natasha nods happily and leans into Bruce's arms as he wraps an arm around her shoulder. Then suddenly a thought comes to mind and she stop herself from asking.

Turning her head to Loki, she watches curiously for a moment pick at his fingernails. When he feels her gaze on him, he looks up at her eyebrows raised in question. "Why did you do it?" she asks. Loki only continues to stare at her, silently prompting her to continue. "Why did you help us?"

Loki snorts, "Well it's not like I had a choice, Ms. Romanoff." He holds his shackles up as proof. "I was held against my own will."

Natasha shakes her head, "That's not true." Loki frowns at being told his wrong. "You could've easily turned your back on us during the battle. You could've found a way to kill us at any moment. You could've left during the battle, but… you didn't. Why?" Every head in the helicarrier turns to look at him sans Sam and the pilot. Loki doesn't answer, he just stares at her stubbornly, refusing to speak.

"it's because he cares." Bruce and Steve simultaneously say when Loki doesn't reply. Steve comes over to sit beside his parents. Natasha looks over at him. "He just doesn't want to admit it."

"I'm sorry Captain," Loki says irritated. "I didn't know you could read minds or spoke on my behalf."

"Sorry Loki, but it's true. You're just too prideful to admit it."

"Admit what?" Loki snaps. "That I realized I was wrong in setting you guys up, in giving Hydra classified information. Admit that I was jealous when I saw Romanoff, Banner and you living a happily ever after that I never got to because all my children were snatched away from me. Because of your father that is Thor!" Loki tries to point an accusatory finger at Thor who stands staring shocked at his brother. Loki whirls back around to look at Steve, his walls breaking away as he continues to rant until there is nothing, but a broken man in his place. "I had children. I had a lot, but every time they weren't in the protection of my body, they were snatched away before I could at least hold them. I carried them for nine months or less with my body, yet I never got to touch them once. Is that what you want me to say Captain? Odin killed them all, except my oldest whom he keeps as a slave. Romanoff didn't even carry you, yet she gets to hold you and take care of you. None of the others took you away from her; you don't live your life as a slave like Sleipnir. How is that fair? To me, at the time, it wasn't." Loki looks over the small family sitting in front of him, ignoring the prying eyes of everyone else. "But once I saw what I had done, I felt awful. I had acted like Odin did when he took my children when I vowed I would never turn into a monster like him. But I did. When Hydra took Natasha and Steve and I saw how broken you were Bruce without them, I knew I needed to fix it. Why do you think I went to Fury? I went to turn myself in and helped you retrieve them."

"Then why did you act like such a cocky ass when we found you?" Stark interrupts stepping forward.

Loki looks over at him, blinking back tears before anyone could see them, but everyone still could. "So you wouldn't know why I did it. If I had just willingly complied, you would be suspicious of me and you Avengers don't waver when it comes to interrogation. You would've continued to push until I finally told you."

Natasha stares up at him, whispering softly, "Then why did you?"

Loki looks back over at her, "Because you deserve to know why I did this to your family." He sniffles silently before whispering, "I'm truly sorry for the damage I've caused. I never meant any harm; I just wanted you to feel the pain I felt every time my children were taken."

Thor steps forward, walking up and placing a hand on Loki's shoulder. "Brother why haven't you told me of these children of yours? Surely I would've helped you to keep them."

Loki looks up at him, "Father threatened me. He had said if I told you, he make sure to kill them. I just recently found out that after he retrieve the child from me, immediately they were put to death. Sleipnir is the only one that still lives, my first born."

"Loki If I had known what father had done to them-"

Loki nods, shrugging his hand off, "I know. Thank you Thor."

"Loki?" Bruce calls catching Loki's attention. "Thank you. Thank you so much for helping me get them back. Despite you being the reason we were put into this mess, you helped us solve it."

Loki shakes his head, "No thanks is necessary. Just…" He turns to Natasha. "Promise to take care of him. Promise you'll continue to love him as if he was your son."

Natasha smiles and turns to Steve. She runs her hand through his hair affectionately. "He is my son, no matter what." Steve smiles down at her and kisses her cheek.

Loki smiles at the three of them before turning to Thor. "Will you be returning to Asgard with me?"

"Certainly, I need to share a few words with my father when we arrive. Also I will be granting pardon on your actions, if that's all right with you all." Thor adds turning to the team.

Everyone shrugs their shoulders in okay. "He helped save us from Hydra and as long as he learned his lesson, I see no reason to punish him gravely for this." Steve says standing, and crossing his arms. "But he still should get some restrictions because his actions can't go unpunished."

"Agreed." Thor nods and grips his brother's shoulder affectionately.

Steve smiled at the two brothers before looking back down at his parents. "Everything's going to be okay now right?" Steve asks.

Bruce and Natasha look at each other for a minute, silently communicating before looking up at Steve. "No." They both say before bursting into laughter.

Steve shakes his head, "Whatever."

"We're the Avengers Steve, nothing is ever going to be okay because the world will always need us." Natasha answers truthfully. "As for us," she shrugs, "I'm sure we'll be fine as long as we have each other. I have Bruce, you have Darcy, Thor has Jane, Tony has Pepper. We'll be fine… for now." Natasha adds.

"What about Sam?" Steve looks over at Clint and Sam to see the archer pull a small blanket over his small body with a fond smile on his face.

Natasha chuckles, "I think Clint has found a new buddy to hang out with." Clint looks up at the sound of his name and Natasha winks at him. He blushes slightly before running his hands down Sam's soft, small arms."Sam will be fine and so will Clint." Steve still doesn't look convinced so Natasha grabs his wrist and tugs him down until he's sitting beside her. She grabs his shoulders and lean down down till he's resting against her heart. "We'll be fine Steve." She says more confidently and assuring hoping Steve believes her.

And he does.

Natasha and Bruce don't need baby Steve for things to be fine. They're happy with just adult Steve. He brings all the happiness to their lives and the others. Although some can admit that they'll miss the little guy, but they wouldn't trade adult Steve for anything in the world. Especially Bruce and Natasha.

Bruce pulls Natasha in for another kiss and normally, it would make Steve uncomfortable and make baby Steve say 'Eww', but now it only makes him feel safer and more assured.

Of course they'd be okay, they're the Avengers for crying out loud!

And they decided that things aren't over until they say it's over.


	15. Epilogue

Epilogue

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**Two Years Later…**

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It was a sad moment when Steve had to explain to Natasha and Bruce that he destroyed the machine. He shared his reasons and was relieved that his parents felt the same.

The time after Steve and Natasha were rescued was the happiest the Avengers had been. Before the confusion and questions started coming in. But the main question that was on everyone's mind was… where was Sam going to go? 2 year old little Sam that had just lost his mother.

He cried for hours and attached himself to Clint's hip for days when he was told. No one could get him to speak or eat. It was understandable considering he just lost the one person he could always depend on from the moment he was born. It was decided amongst the team that they tell him the truth about his mother; they didn't want to keep it from him. But the strange part was… the only one who could get him to do anything was Clint.

Clint was his sole caretaker while they figured out what to do with the boy and the archer didn't seem to mind. He thrived at the chance to take care of the depressed 2 year old and he was his most happiest around Sam. Which is why, weeks after they rescued Sam, Steve and Natasha, he had announced to everyone that he wanted to adopt Sam.

It turned out to be a great thing for everyone, especially Clint. He finally had someone. He'd been alone for years when Natasha had Bruce, Tony had Pepper, Steve had Darcy and Thor had Jane. Now he had Sam.

Speaking of the little munchkin, the- now- 5 year old is running around Stark Tower like a mad man, hyped up on sugar and energy.

"Daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy!"

A small blur of black rushes past Darcy, almost knocking her down if Steve hadn't of been there to catch her. He wraps his arm around her waist and places his free hand on her protruding belly.

"Careful sport. You almost knocked Darcy and baby down." Steve scolds softly, giving Sam a look.

Sam, at least, looks somewhat ashamed. "Sorry auntie Darcy. Uncle Steve."

Darcy smiles down at him and messes up his hair. "Don't worry about it."

Sam brightens instantly, "Have you seen my daddy?"

Suddenly a huge mass comes up behind Sam and grabs him around his waist. Sam gasp in surprise and he only has time to look behind him before he's thrown in the air. "Daddy!"

Clint laughs, catching him in the air and placing him on his hip. "Hey buddy."

Sam wraps his arm around Clint's neck and beams excitedly at him. "Guess what, daddy?"

"What?"

Sam glances around at the three people watching him before he proudly holds up his foot. Clint looks down and sees a perfectly tied shoelace, something Sam has been struggling with since months ago. He smiles, "You tied your shoelace?"

"All by myself!" Sam shouts pointing his shoe in Steve and Darcy's direction.

Steve chuckles, "That's very good Sam, we're proud of you."

"Now I can show the baby how to tie their shoes when they're born." Sam says as if the thought had just crossed his mind.

Darcy shakes her head smiling, "You'll have to wait a few years buddy. The baby will be too small to tie their shoes."

Sam jumps down from his spot in his father's arms and walks over to her. He places a hand on her huge stomach then his ear. Ever since Darcy had begun showing, Sam has become accustomed to pressing his ear up against her belly so he can 'hear the baby', or so he tells them. She didn't mind much because he was just curious and Sam gave her and Steve practice for when they had their baby.

Suddenly, Sam lets out a small giggle, his ear still pressed against Darcy's belly. "What's so funny?" Clint asks smiling down at his son.

Sam takes a step back and looks up at Darcy smiling, "The baby says that there is no room in there. She's cramped." Sam was also convinced the baby was a girl.

Darcy raises an eyebrow at him, placing her hands on top of her belly. "Is that so?"

Sam nods, "Yep. She wants to get out so she can play with me!"

"Cant imagine why she wouldn't." Steve says picking up Sam and messing up his hair, "You're a pretty fun kid." Steve is also convinced the baby's a girl. So are Pepper and Thor. Everyone else thinks it's going to be a boy, sans Bruce since he already knows the gender.

"Will you please quit calling our son a girl?" Darcy says giving Steve a look.

Steve laughs putting Sam down and wrapping his arm around her waist. "But sweetheart, it's going to be a girl."

"Whatever you say, but I know what I'm carrying." Steve opens his mouth to protest, but she holds a hand up, "I don't want to hear it. Come on Sam let's get you some breakfast." She shoots Steve a look before grabbing Sam's hand and walking towards the kitchen.

"She really wants a boy, doesn't she?" they hear a voice from behind them.

Steve turns to find Natasha and Bruce walking towards them, Natasha wearing her signature smirk. "Yeah, she wants our baby to look exactly like me. I personally I want a girl so it would look like her."

"What about you grandma?" Clint asks, cocking an eyebrow in her direction laughing. Natasha hated the others calling her grandma. Natasha only raised an eyebrow challenging Clint to call her that again.

"Doesn't matter, as long as it's healthy."

Bruce snorts and Natasha's head snaps towards him. "Oh come on Nat, don't lie. She wants a boy." Bruce says pulling Natasha closer to him, placing a kiss on her temple. "She's been trying to get me to tell her ever since I found out."

"And I would know what they're having if you just told me." Natasha shoves Bruce away from her, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You will know in a few days when the baby is born."

Natasha frowns and opens her mouth to argue, when Darcy walks out from the kitchen. "Um… actually, I think we might be finding out a little earlier than planned."

Steve tensed, "What are you saying?"

Darcy looked up at all of them, "My water broke."

.

.

.

Tony, Thor, Pepper and Jane rush into the waiting room at the same time. Natasha, Sam and Clint look up at their arrival. "Did we miss it?"

"No she's only 7 centimeters dilated." Natasha answers.

Clint smiles, "But we're going to have ourselves a baby here really soon."

Sam tugs on Clint's arm to get his attention. "Daddy where do babies come from?" He asks curiously. Clint's eyes widen and he begins to cough as he chokes on his own salvia. Tony and Thor bark out laughing and the girls can't help the smiles that cross their faces. Sam looks around at everyone, genuinely confused. "What's funny?"

When Clint gets his coughing fit controlled, he looks over at Natasha for help. She opens her mouth to say no when suddenly a scream from inside the delivery room catches everyone's attention, followed by Bruce's voice.

"Okay Darcy, it's time to push!" he tried to scream over her screams.

"I WANT NATASHA!"

Not even a second later, Steve comes barreling out of the delivery room. With panicky eyes, he spots Natasha sitting in the waiting room chairs. "Mom, Darcy needs you. I-I need you." He begs, his hands shaking in front of him. "We want you in the delivery room." He says with pleading eyes.

Natasha smiles at panic state and nods her head. She stands and walks over to the door. Just before she follows Steve through, she looks back at Clint. "You're on your own Hawkeye." And she's gone.

Clint swallows and reluctantly looks down at son who continues to stare up at him curiously. "Well you see son, babies um… they come from…" When he stutters for the fourth time, he looks over at Jane and Pepper and pleads with his eyes.

Only because he looks very desperate, Pepper steps forward. "Come on Sam; let's go get some ice cream."

"But Aunt Darcy-"Sam says, not wanting to leave.

"She'll be alright. You'll see the baby later, I promise. Now come on." Pepper encourages reaching an arm out to him. Sam looks over at Clint for permission and Clint gladly nods. Jumping down from his seat, he scurries over to Pepper and takes her hand. "Have JARVIS call us when it's okay to come back down."

Clint nods and Pepper and Sam leave. Tony walks over to him and dramatically plops down in his chair. "How's parenting daddy?" He asks mockingly.

Clint glares at him, "Just because I'm a dad, doesn't mean I won't hesitate in putting your ass through that wall." Tony rises in hands in boy scouts honor and even results to pretending to zip his lips shut. He makes a show of throwing away the key as well.

After what felt like hours, Bruce and Natasha finally emerged from the room with proud smiles on their faces. Everyone looks up at their arrival. "J, call Pepper and Sam down." Clint says, his eyes never leaving the couple in front of him.

"Yes sir."

Tony laughs, "So it's official, you're grandparents!" Bruce and Natasha are too happy to even give a care to what Tony just called them. "How's the little munchkin?"

"Perfect."

Jane jumps up excitedly smiling, "Is it a boy or girl?"

"Come see for yourself."

Bruce and Natasha lead Jane, Tony and Clint inside the room where an exhausted, yet happy Darcy lays on the bed carrying a pink bundle.

Jane gasps, "It's a girl!"

Darcy nods and looks down at her daughter. "I told you so." Steve teases from the side.

Very carefully, Darcy elbows her husband in the ribs. "Shut up."

Thor steps forward and peers down into the blanket. "She's such a beauty," Thor proclaims loudly, clasping Steve on the shoulder. And Thor couldn't be anymore right. She was beautiful with her dark brown hair that peeks out from the top of her creating a curly mop. Her eyes were closed so no one knew what color they would be, but given her genetics they're either going to be brown like Darcy's or blue like Steve's. She got Steve's nose, but Darcy's lips. She was just so perfect with 10 fingers and 10 toes. "You will make such an excellent father."

"Thanks Thor."

"I want to hold her!" Jane runs to Darcy's side, excitedly waiting.

Darcy laughs, "Here." With Steve's help, she passes her daughter off to be held by the rest of the team.

Tony walks over to Bruce and places a hand on his shoulder, "How did it feel to deliver your granddaughter?"

Bruce rolls his eyes, "Whatever Stark."

"What? You should be happy. You're a grandpa now!" Tony laughs at the irritated look Bruce sends his way.

"It felt amazing, but I had some help." Bruce wraps his arms around Natasha whom in turns rests her head on Bruce's shoulder as she watches her granddaughter being passed around. "There was a complication during the delivery and Natasha had to help me so technically she delivered her as well."

Tony's eyebrows furrow in concern. "But everything's alright, right?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it. She's a healthy, 7 pounds 5 ounces, baby girl."

"But seriously," Tony looks at the baby now in Thor's arms. "She's gorgeous." He glances back at the couple besides him, "When are you and the mrs. going to bring a new addition into this tower. We're waiting." He says gesturing around the room.

Natasha cocks an eyebrow in his direction, "Seriously, Darcy just had her baby and not even a minute later you start pestering Bruce and I. The tower already has two small ones, there doesn't need be another one."

Tony sighs exasperatedly, "There's plenty of room!" Tony leans in closer and lowers his voice to avoid anyone else hearing, "Besides you've both were a little… lost after Steve destroyed the machine. Everyone could see it. We just want you to be happy."

Natasha's expression actually softens by Tony's kind words and she can't find it within her to reply with a snarky comment after Tony's was so sincere. She picks her head off of Bruce's shoulder and looks over at Tony, who avoids her gaze. "Thank you… for your consideration. But we're okay Tony." Her gaze drifts over to Steve whom he now cradles his daughter lovingly in his arms. "We had our baby and now he's grown up… with his own baby. My boy turned into a great man." She said with all the pride and joy of any mother. "I know I said I didn't want it to end, but in reality… it never ends. I have that beautiful granddaughter as proof." She looks over at Tony and smiles softly. "My family is complete. I don't need another baby."

Bruce leans forward and kisses Natasha's temple softly, "I agree."

Tony smirks, but it's not condescending or smug, it's genuinely happy. "So no baby?"

Bruce looks down and meets Natasha's eye. "No baby." He says without breaking their gaze. Tony nods and walks away to give Bruce and Natasha privacy. "We did good." Bruce whispers softly, brushing the hair out of her face.

Natasha nods, "We did." Leaning up, she presses her lips against his. Sadly, it's only for a brief moment.

"Mom. Dad"

Natasha and Bruce pull away with smiles on their faces. "Even when he's not a baby, he's still finds a way to interrupt us." Bruce mutters making Natasha laugh.

She turns away from him and walks up to Steve, Bruce following. While she and Bruce were having their discussion, it seems Pepper and Sam had arrived. "Yes my love?" She grabs onto Steve's elbow and peers over his shoulder to smile at her granddaughter.

Steve turns to address everyone, "Guys, Darcy and I have talked about this-"

"More like argued." Darcy butts in making everyone laugh.

"- but we finally decided on a name." Steve presses a kiss to his daughter's forehead before carefully passing her off to Natasha. Natasha gladly takes the baby girl and smiles down at her while Bruce looks over her shoulder. "Everyone meet Natalia Christine Rogers." Steve meets Natasha's wide eyes and smirks, "After her grandma." Natasha opens her mouth to say something, but nothing comes out.

Darcy stares up at her nervously, "I-I hope you don't mind, but… we wanted to name our daughter after someone who was strong and who helped bring us together. Same would've happened with our son, if we had one." She looks over at Steve and grabs his hand tugging his arm until he was sitting beside her."If it weren't you for Natasha, Steve and I would have never met and that little girl wouldn't be here."

Natasha stared down at the baby before looking up at the couple in front of her, "I don't know what to say." She answers honestly.

Bruce wraps his arms around her and leans his chin on her shoulder, "Just say yes and thank you." He mutters softly placing a finger in the baby's finger and watching as she tightly holds on.

A few tears escape Natasha's eyes and she nods smiling, "Thank you."

"No," Steve shakes his head smiling. "Thank you for everything you've done for me."

Natasha shakes her head, "You're my son. You don't have to thank me."

Steve shrugs, "I know we talked about this a few years ago, but… before I was first turned, I wasn't your anything. I was just your teammate and friend, if that's what you wanted to call our relationship." His arm wraps around Darcy's shoulder and brings her closer so she can cuddle into his chest. He presses a kiss to her head, "You took me under your wing. You made me your son and for that I'll be forever grateful." His eyes lower to his daughter and smiles lovingly, "I hope my daughter turns out to be someone like you Natasha." Steve shakes his head, "Screw your past, I want her to be independent, strong, smart and beautiful. Just like her grandma."

Natasha can't help the tears streaming down her face, not caring if anyone else in the room saw. She looked down at her grandbaby, her little Natalia. She smiles down at her and kisses her forehead softly with a lingering touch. "Hi sweetheart," She chokes out trying to control her sobs of happiness. "I'm your grandma… I love you so much."

"And Bruce, Natasha?" Darcy calls softly making the couple look up at her. Before she can continue, Bruce interrupts shaking his head with a small smile,

"Darcy you're married to Steve and you've created this beautiful miracle, I think you earned yourself the right to calling us mom and dad."

Darcy blushes, "Fine then… mom, dad, we were also wondering if you'd be Natalia's godparents?"

Bruce and Natasha look at each other before smiling down at Natalia. "We'd be honored." Bruce answers when Natasha can't find her voice. She's so freaking happy, it's almost overwhelming.

"Daddy! Can I see the baby!?" Sam's loud voice erupts through the quiet room making everyone laugh and Clint cringe in embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry you guys." He apologizes to Darcy and Steve when Natalia begins to cry.

"Don't worry about it." Steve shrugs and gestures for Pepper to bring Sam over to the bed. Pepper obliges and picks Sam up to sit on the bed with Darcy. "You want to meet your new cousin?" Sam nods excitedly.

Natasha smiles at him before walking over, softly cooing to calm the fussing baby. When the baby's calmed down she carefully passes her off to Sam. With Steve's help, Sam successfully carries his new cousin. He stares down at her in shock. "She's so pretty." He actually whispers softly so he doesn't wake her again.

"She is." Pepper agrees staring down at the infant.

Bruce's attention is caught when he sees Darcy trying to suppress a yawn. He smiles and whispers in Natasha's ear, "I think it's time to give Darcy some rest."

Natasha looks over and sees that Darcy is barely trying to keep her eyes open. "Okay you guys, we can continue this in a different room. Darcy really needs her rest." She grabs Natalia from Sam and helps the little boy down. He rushes out of the room immediately pulling Clint and Pepper with him. Thor, Tony and Clint quickly follow. Bruce and Natasha go to leave, but they stop when they notice Steve isnt coming.

They look back at him in question. He smiles at them and nods his head to a dozing Darcy. "I'm going to stay with her. I trust you guys to watch my daughter."

Natasha smiles at him and turns to admire her son and daughter-in-law. "You've truly grown Steve. You're not my little boy anymore."

Steve smiles and blushes slightly, "I'll always be your little boy mom. Just your little boy with a family of his own."

"I know," Natasha nods her head and glances at Bruce. Bruce inclines his head towards the door. "I'm so proud of you Steve."

"I love you mom. Dad."

Bruce smiles at him and places a hand on the small of Natasha's back to guide her outside. "We love you too son." Natasha and him exit the room and close the door softly behind them.

They start to head for the room where the others wait, but then Natalia begins to fuss. Natasha stops to tend to her. Bruce smiles at the two of them before continuing to the room. "You're not staying?" Natasha calls over to him.

Bruce looks over his shoulder and shakes his head, "It's looks like the two of you could use some grandma and granddaughter time. I'll keep the others busy till your down."

Natasha smiles, "Thank you."

"No problem."

"Bruce!" She calls before he can enter the room. He stops and looks back at her. "I love you."

Bruce chuckles "As do I." and then he's gone leaving Natasha and Natalia alone.

Natalia's cries begin to get louder and Natasha's full attention is on her at once. "Ssh, hey it's okay. It's okay. Grandma's got you. You're alright." She shushes as she rocks the baby back and forth. "It's alright. Ssh, ssh, ssh." The soothing tone of Natasha seems to calm Natalia immensely. The cries grow weaker and quieter until it completely diminishes. The infant's eyes slowly and carefully blink open, but close immediately at the bright light shining above her. "I'm so sorry. Jarvis can you please dim the lights in the hallway."

"Yes Ms. Romanoff." The lights go dim at once and a second later, Natalia opens one eye to test out if it's safe to look.

Natasha laughs, "It's okay my love, you can open your eyes."

Natalia does without another encouragement and her eyes are instantly caught by Natasha's fiery red hair. Natasha can't help, but gasp at the two beautiful cerulean blue orbs that stare back at her. She has Steve's eyes. They wernt just a regular infant blue, they were intense and all Steve. Just for this small knowledge, it fills her with joy knowing that her grandbaby was going to grow up with such beautiful eyes, just like Steve. The infant stares up at the person holding her with awe and curiosity. Natasha smiles down at her, "Hi sweetie. It's okay; I'm not going to hurt you. God, you're so beautiful and precious. You're perfect." Natasha rocks her back and forth and begins to take her to the window overlooking the city. "Welcome to the world Natalia Rogers. This is your new home and inside that room over there is your new family. You'll always be safe here. No matter what. You'll always be safe in my arms. I promise you." Natasha leans down and kisses Natalia's hair before looking out into the city. It was nighttime. Darcy had been in labor for hours and now the sun has set and a full moon is overlooking the sky. "You're a full moon baby." She comments to Natalia, continuing to stare out into the night sky.

A lullaby comes to mind. She doesn't know who sang it to her, or if she was sung to at all as a child, but it comes to mind now and she deny her grandbaby the chance to hear it. It was a beautiful one, just like Natalia.

"**Your baby blues  
So full of wonder  
Your curly cues  
Your contagious smile**"

Natasha stared down at Natalia, tracing the baby's hairline and her eyes. Laughing when Natalia squints at the odd feeling of someone touching the outside of her eyes.

"**And as I watch  
You start to grow up  
All I can do  
is hold you tight**"

Natasha glances up at the moon before beginning to make her way to the rocking chair in the corner of the room where the moonlight illuminates beautifully.

"**Knowing clouds will rage in  
Storms will race in  
But you will be safe in my arms  
Rains will pour down  
Waves will crash around  
But you will be safe in my arms**"

Natasha takes a seat and begins to rock the tired baby back and forth. Natalia fights to keep her eyes open.

"**Story books are full of fairy tales  
Of kings and queens and the bluest skies  
My heart is torn just in knowing  
You'll someday see the truth from lies"**

Natalia stops fighting and just closes her in eyes in defeat, resting her head over the spot where Natasha's heart beats.

"**When the clouds will rage in  
Storms will race in  
But you will be safe in my arms  
Rains will pour down  
Waves will crash around  
But you will be safe in my arms**

**Castles – they might crumble  
Dreams may not come true  
But you are never all alone  
'Cause I will always,  
Always love you  
Hey I,  
Hey I,**

**When the clouds will rage in  
Storms will race in  
But you will be safe in my arms  
Rains will pour down  
Waves will crash around**"

Natasha smiles when she sees Natalia's breathing even out and her chest rise and fall in a perfect pattern. She lowers her voice to soft whisper and sings the last verse to the sleeping the baby girl in her arms with all the love and passion she could muster.

"**But you will be safe in my arms.**"

Natasha leans to rest to her forehead against Natalia's and closes her eyes as tears run down her cheeks. Tears of happiness. Finally, in a quiet tone, she whispers the last sentence of the song.

"In my arms…"


End file.
